Justifying Betrayal
by stilldeluded
Summary: A confrontation with a prisoner gives Naruto a different perspective of life. His beliefs are slowly becoming conflicted. Where do you go when what you vow to protect starts becoming meaningless to you. A dark road is ahead...and he walks it without fear.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I AM BACK! With a brand new fic! ...I can just see the eyes roll now. "Oh god, no! What about the other fics?! Changing Tune?! A Sensei's Duty?! NO!!!!!**

**Yes Yes I know, I'll get to those next chapters soon. Promise. I was struck by imagination and just started writing like crazy and this is what popped up. lol.**

**For those of you who don't know me, I am the one and only stilldeluded, I attend college/hell and yes it does suck, because then you don't get to update as often as you like and then you get strangled by fans awaiting your next chapter...but that's enough of that for now. Hopefully reading this fic will keep you intrigued and interested enough to read some of my other works. Hell for all I know you may have actually read some of my other works and never noticed it. I'm trying to build a reputation as one of those...eh what do you call them..."crack fics?" ...well...one man's crack is another man's cannon...I like crack, don't ask me why. It just makes me feel good. lol.**

**THAT ASIDE...I'm just wasting your valuable reading time...because I like the attention I guess.**

**Ok I'm just going to be quiet now. Just read and review my fic. lol.**

"**YOU ARE WEAK**_**!"**_

_I had failed. Failed to bring Sasuke back…and now he belonged to Orochimaru…_

"**WITHOUT ME, YOU ARE NOTHING**_**."**_

_It was true…without Kyuubi I could never have achieved anything. I would have been killed by Haku back in the land of the waves, or Orochimaru in the forest of death, or Gaara…and I definitely wouldn't have stood a chance against Sasuke…not alone…_

_All of my achievements belong to the fox. And I can't stand it…_

_But how can I make myself stronger…?_

"**YOU WILL NEVER GET STRONGER, NOT HERE**_**."**_

_I could agree with that. That was the purpose of the training trip I am going to take with Ero-sannin._

"**YES, **_**LOADS**_** TO LEARN**_**."**_

_Was that…sarcasm?_

"**THE SAGE WILL TEACH YOU NOTHING. NOTHING YOU WILL WANT TO LEARN.**_**"**_

_What would he teach that I would be so unwilling to learn?_

"**NAÏVE HUMAN, HE WILL TEACH YOU TO DRAW MORE POWER**_**."**_

_That doesn't sound so bad…_

"…**FROM ME…**_**"**_

_Why? …Why does everything always have to come back to the Kyuubi? For once…I would just like…for everyone to trust in my own power!_

* * *

Slowly, 13 year old, Naruto Uzumaki opened his eyes to the new day. The light reflecting from the sun hitting the window was the only thing his gaze met. He quenched his eyes groggily before throwing his bandaged hand to cover them. Another dream. It seemed as though these thoughts were frequenting his mind more and more these days. Whether it was from a feeling of lacking in his own abilities or not, the truth of the matter was that they were beginning to trouble him.

"Fuck! Another fucking high card!"

Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself as his roommate once again cursed the heavens at her extremely bad luck in whatever card game she was playing at the moment. Her name was Tayuya, and she is the sole survivor of Orochimaru's elite guard. Apparently, she was picked up by black ops barely alive and brought back to the village for questioning. Healed just enough to keep her alive, but not enough to mend the broken bones in her body, which Ibiki Morino used to his advantage every night during her "questioning."

To be honest, Naruto just thought it was unjust torture. I mean, he knew that she helped Sasuke escape and knew she held a lot of information about the Sound. But to re-break an already fractured ligament? To rip off her fingernails? Not even Naruto held enough of a grudge to say she deserved that.

Yet he was growing to admire her faith with each day that went by. Ibiki had yet to break Tayuya's resiliency. Night after night her painful screams shattered the room, but when it was all over Tayuya simply spat at his boots and gave him the bird.

"Oy dumbass! Get the fuck over here, I wanna play Blackjack!"

Not being one to back down from a challenge, Naruto obliged half-heartedly as thoughts of his training trip with Ero-sannin and of the dream continued to play through his mind. He wondered…what would Ero-sannin teach him? He needed to ask him when he got the chance. Tell him up front he didn't want anything to do with the damnable fox inside of him.

"Staying at Twenty. Just try to fucking beat that bitch!"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders before flipping over his later card and laughing as Tayuya stood guffawed at his hand.

"Blackjack," Naruto laughed.

"Fuck you."

* * *

After a quick checkup from Shizune, a signature on a medical release form, and a "Lucky Bastard" from Tayuya, Naruto Uzumaki was deemed a healthy boy ready to walk the streets of Konoha once again.

The streets, as usual, were bustling with hundreds of villagers going around the various marketplaces trading coin for food, appliances, etc. Naruto couldn't help the smile that came across his face. These were the people he wished to protect with every fiber of his being. He watched their smiling faces admiringly as they interacted with one another, making their necessary transactions with the local vendors.

The smile on Naruto's face only widened as he turned the corner and pulled back the flap to his favorite restaurant, Ichiraku Ramen. Oh, how he missed it. It had to have been at least two days since his last meal here. For Naruto, that was considered an unfaithful act! Teuchi Ichiraku submitted him to a small interrogation before finally deciding that Naruto had a legitimate excuse for his absence.

As he finished up his fifth bowl, the flap was opened yet again to reveal Ino Yamanaka walking into the ramen stand. This act of god alone made Naruto spit out half the ramen he was chewing.

"I-Ino?! When did you start eating here?!" Naruto asked in shock as ramen giblets showered all over Ayame Ichiraku, who made a disgusted look before going to wash her face off.

Ino looked around embarrassedly before replying with a slim layer of disgust, "Ugh, no. Chouji asked me to grab him some. Honestly, you'd think that he'd be full after the three helpings of hospital food."

"Chouji's awake?" Naruto asked again in a surprised tone.

Ino nodded, "Yeah, he asked that either me or Shikamaru go get him something, and you know how Shikamaru—"

Naruto toned her out and just kind of nodded while he formulated his own plan in his head. He had acquired a nice amount of money from his last mission (even if it did end in failure, they did manage to take out four people listed in the bingo book) after all, and he felt like he needed to do something nice for everybody.

"—and then I decided that ramen was probably the best thing to get, since it's cheaper than barbeque," Ino continued until she noticed Naruto's blank look. "Hey, are you listening to me?" She asked angrily.

Naruto upon hearing her finally found the ability to snap out of his reverie at this and decided a change in conversation was needed…fast! "Hey, I got an idea! Let's bring ramen to everyone we know that's still in the hospital!"

Ino looked at him like he was insane before a wicked scheme cooked up in her head. "Alright Naruto-_kun_, but only if you'll help me pay for Chouji's tab."

Naruto blinked before blushing, "Alright Ino, but only if you promise never to call me Naruto-kun again…that was just…anyway, sure."

Ino smiled happily. She liked it when she got her way.

* * *

The Konoha Secret Delivery Service was in effect! There was no way that Naruto and Ino could hide ten boxed lunches from all the nurses that worked in the hospital. The nurses were insanely strict about the proper diet for their patients. So in a very ninja-like fashion, Naruto and Ino found themselves jumping sneakily onto the hospital roof and taking the stairs down into the hospital corridors.

"Coast is clear on the third floor. Anybody we know down there?" Naruto asked as he carefully (but barely) balanced eight ramen boxes under his arms.

Ino had gone in earlier and worked her magic on a male nurse. While he was distracted, she secretly had stolen the hospital registry from under his nose. Naruto wouldn't admit it out loud…but Ino was a _very_ manipulative girl.

"Doesn't look like it," Ino stated with two boxes held securely under her arm and against her hip while checking the registry that was held in her other hand. "Kiba and Neji are on the second floor and Chouji's on the first."

Naruto nodded and lead the way to the second floor. With the coast clear, the two shinobi made their way to Neji's room. Unfortunately, he was asleep so they were forced to set the box not too far away from the bed and leave. Checking once again that no nurse was roaming, they made their way to Kiba's room who was throwing a rubber ball against the opposite wall and catching it on the return bounce.

"Hey," Kiba said with a hint of boredom. Soon the loving smell of ramen introduced itself very merrily to his nose. His stomach churned with hunger.

"You hungry, fleabag?" Naruto laughed much to Kiba's annoyance.

"Oh come on," Kiba growled, "don't tell me you came to tempt me with food and then leave! Do you have any idea how inedible some of this crap is?" Kiba begged before asking.

As if to prove his point Kiba threw a bread roll at the wall. To Naruto's and Ino's surprise the roll put a dent in the wall before falling to the ground.

"Even Akamaru wouldn't touch it," Kiba went on attempting to prove his point further, but Ino seemed to already have enough of his complaining.

"Alright! We get it!" Ino yelled before setting down her pile for Kiba to eat. "Come on Naruto we still have seven more we have to get to Chouji."

"Hey Ino, do you mind giving me a—" It was too late as she had already stormed off back down the hall. "—hand…?"

"She totally left you out to dry," Kiba smirked. "But I've gotta say, you and her seem to be off to a nice start."

Naruto blushed out of embarrassment, "No! No! She's not—I don't even like her like that!" Naruto declared before rushing out of the room.

"Uh huh…" Kiba drawled before slipping some noodles into his mouth, "Whatever you say…"

* * *

"Stupid Kiba-teme going and saying a bunch of crap," Naruto vented as he closed in on Chouji's room.

Upon entering Chouji's room, Naruto's face went bug-eyed. Hundreds upon thousands of bowls of food were littering the ground by the second. A nurse that hurried in behind him would have knocked Naruto off balance if he hadn't sidestepped her at the last second. They were coming in back and forth trying to clean up the littered dishes, but for the most part it was in vein since there were two times as many nurses rushing in with food that Chouji was ordering through the intercom.

If there was one thing he could learn by just looking, it was that you should never leave an Akimichi chakra depleted.

"Honestly Chouji! Restraint! Restraint! R-E-S-T-R-A-I-N-T! Ever heard of the word?!" Ino raved while Chouji downed two more meals.

"But Ino, I'm hungry and Shikamaru said the best way to get all my chakra back was to get a full stomach!" Chouji whined.

"Ugh!" Ino raged, "When I get my hands on Shikamaru I'll—Where is he anyway?!"

As if to answer the question, a hand shot out of a pile of bowls that were stacked up in the corner. This only seemed to add on to Ino's temper.

"Grr! Shikamaru! You were supposed to make sure he kept himself in check! That last nurse was crying with all the dishes she was carrying away! And what are you doing underneath all that garbage!?"

Shikamaru simply shrugged, "Chouji just kept eating and it was too troublesome to stop him."

"So why were you under the garbage?!" Ino exclaimed out of irritation.

"Too troublesome."

This response just seemed to invoke an even more irritated response from Ino, as now she was pulling on her hair while gritting her teeth. "I just can't take it! Why did I have to get such an annoying team!?" She screamed before storming out the door.

"Troublesome woman," Shikamaru sighed as Naruto handed four boxes to Chouji who took them greedily.

Naruto gave a hesitated laugh, hoping Ino wasn't right outside the door for the sake of the lazy chuunin. "Here. I saved you one."

Shikamaru gave a half nod of acknowledgement before Naruto decided to leave the room. He was relieved to be rid of most of the boxes he was carrying. The last two he had decided to reserve at the last second for another person, though he didn't really know whether or not she would want them.

As he made his way towards the last room, Ino called out to him, "Hey, I thought we were giving the rest to Chouji?" she questioned.

"Naruto smiled half-heartedly before replying, "…well there's one more person I want to make a delivery too…"

* * *

Despite her condition, Tayuya's room was under heavy guard by the ANBU Black Ops. Though an attempt was made to distract them, it, of course, was a failure. So after stating his reasons for being there and checking the contents of the boxes of ramen in question, the anbu nodded that it was safe and that nothing harmful was hidden in the box. Thus, Naruto and Ino were thankful for being given entry.

Though Naruto did have to admit that allowing a visitor to an enemy ninja was kind of…well he didn't really have the word for it, but he was sure it wasn't a normal everyday thing.

"What the hell do you want?" Tayuya asked upon seeing Naruto walk in to greet her and smirked as the blond-haired girl made her way in right behind him. "Who's the slut?"

Ino stood baffled at the term used to describe her, "Why you—!"

Naruto held up his hand to effectively silence Ino before looking back at Tayuya. "This is Yamanaka Ino, Ino this is Tayuya.

Ino just offered a fake smile but Tayuya didn't seem to notice.

"I'd shake your fucking hand if it weren't for the cast," Tayuya said while glaring at the evil confining mechanism attached to her right hand. "Fucking cast." She muttered.

"We brought you some food." Naruto stated ignoring her comment and getting down to the point of his visit. "Girls don't really seem to like it, but it's better than the chalky stuff they serve here." He continued with a smile on his face.

Tayuya didn't really know what to say. Naruto could tell she was grateful by the look she was giving him, however the words "Thank You" were probably not something that was regularly used in her rather colorful vocabulary.

"Whatever," Tayuya said before turning her face to where Naruto couldn't see it, "I need someone to feed me though. My left hand can't do shit."

This seemed to cause a rise out of Ino, "You know, you could be a little more grateful, we didn't have to—"

Naruto cooled Ino's temper again with a raise of his hand before smiling back at Tayuya again. "I think maybe I can handle that."

The room was swept over with silence as Naruto fed Tayuya. Spoonful by spoonful the first ramen bowl slowly but steadily emptied out. As Naruto went to grab the second box Tayuya stopped him. "That's enough." She stated quieter than usual.

Naruto would have protested had Ino not stopped him with her own question that had been bugging her. "You know, I've never seen you around before. Are you new to the village or something?"

Naruto wasn't going to lie to himself. The question scared him. How would Ino react knowing that Tayuya was one of the Sound Ninjas that helped Sasuke escape?

"Tch. I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for those damned anbu bringing me in. I wish I would have just fucking died when that tree crushed me." Tayuya replied somberly. "Honest to god, your village is such a shithole, not as big a shithole as my shithole, but a shithole none the less."

"Why do you say that?" Naruto asked while baring the insults to his village.

Tayuya paused at the question and looked Naruto straight in the eyes. Her eyes were empty of any life they may have once held, void of all emotion. This look she was giving was nothing but the honest truth. A bitter smile slowly formed on her lips as she began speaking.

"Feeble-minded fool. You really think this place is amazing, don't you? It's not. You aren't even allowed to leave this shithole unless you are on a mission. If you do you're automatically marked a traitor. Hell, I bet the only reason that shadow bastard was ordered to retrieve Sasuke was because he's the last of his _precious_ little clan. Normally your village would just have fucking killed him on sight for such a betrayal.

Tayuya's words were replaying slowly inside Naruto's head. He couldn't think of any moment where a ninja had left the village outside of a mission. Nor did he have a proper rebuttal that could falsify Tayuya's opinions. What would have happened if he had brought back Sasuke? Naruto had never really thought about it, but he knew he would probably face some severe punishment.

"Also…this place is renowned for some of the most famous ninja, and yet they teach their students jack shit. Sharingan Kakashi probably knows over a thousand fucking jutsus, and yet how many has he actually taught you?"

Hardly any…if any at all…even Sasuke had noticed this…was this why he left…? Naruto's dream was slowly resurfacing to his mind…

"**YOU ARE WEAK**_**!"**_

"**YOU WILL NEVER GET STRONGER, NOT HERE…**_**"**_

All of his thoughts…all of his fears…they were being reassured once again with each breath Tayuya took. More words were spoken, and for the first time, Naruto began to realize something…

This village…wasn't perfect.

"But what really fucking pisses me off is your sense of justice," Tayuya drawled on. "You assume as though every little thing you do is the right thing and then piss on other countries for having different beliefs. Seriously have you ever fucking wondered how the great wars started? She asked. "It began with a grudge between two countries and then two political leaders from those countries ended up arguing over their religious outlooks. Then "boom," fucking war breaks out leaving families separated and lives destroyed. All because the shit hit the fan between two fat-assed politics."

Naruto didn't really know what to say to that, but judging by the loneliness that reflected within Tayuya's eyes…he could tell that part of her own life story was hidden within her words. The room was silent for quite a while. Even Ino didn't really seem to know what to say to any of the things being said. Naruto had never really looked at the world as a whole. It was a whole new experience for him…

"So if Konoha is so corrupt, why are we considered the greatest nation?" Ino asked genuinely confused.

"Tch." Tayuya rolled her eyes, "Is that what they teach you in your fucking academies? How great you are? Big fucking deal! So you've won all the wars you've ever been in and killed the greatest demon in the whole fucking land. I'll admit you've got a pretty tight army of elite ninjas with bloodlines and shit, but the truth is it's made you arrogant and cocky. The whole fucking world is just begging to see Konoha get blown to hell after their cockiness makes them bite off a little more than they can chew."

Ino couldn't hold the scoff back from the vulgarity of Tayuya's vocabulary. But Tayuya didn't seem to notice (or maybe care) and continued with her little lecture.

"I mean seriously, come on, why the hell do you think the Sand betrayed their alliance with the Leaf in the first place." She asked sarcastically. "You're too fucking arrogant for your own good. Thinking you're above everyone else. Thinking you can just sadistically do whatever the fuck you want to get what you want. Like gods or some shit...It just fucking sickens me…"

Naruto wasn't the brightest guy around the block, but he knew the difference between being aggravated and upset. Whether she wanted to believe it or not, she was reaching her breaking point. Ibiki was getting closer to attaining the information he needed. The only feeling Naruto had left over Tayuya's predicament was disgust. He wished that he could help her, but for now he felt that he needed to leave. Tayuya needed some time to herself.

"Stay strong." Naruto nodded while motioning Ino to follow him. Ino nodded respectfully as well before turning and leaving behind Naruto.

The two walked in silence out of the hospital and further down the streets of Konoha together. During their time within the hospital the evening had begun to sink in. The sunset was dimly keeping the world alight from the passed down narrow alleys taking shortcuts until finally they found themselves outside of Ino's residence. By that time the world had now finally faded to black. Naruto managed a half-smile and a nod of acknowledgement to Ino in the darkness before turning in the direction of his own home.

"Naruto!" Ino called chasing him down. "Listen…about what Tayuya said—"

It was dark but Naruto could tell that Ino didn't want to be talking about this anywhere out in the open. For that matter…neither did Naruto…

"Let's take this ramen back to my place and heat it up. Then we can talk about everything afterward." Naruto said kindly while indicating the box of ramen under his arm that was left undelivered.

Ino managed a nod and a thankful smile.

* * *

"So…this is my house," Naruto stated uneasily as he allowed Ino to walk inside and have a look around.

Ino looked around the place. Since it was Naruto she knew better that to think it was anything close to clean but was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't messier. The apartment was small but cozy in her opinion, though the furniture was nothing short of secondhand. Upon entering she found herself standing in a study/kitchen with two doorways on the other side leading most likely to the bathroom and bedroom respectively. The floor was littered with a few ramen cups and a few important papers scattered the floor, but overall it was a pretty up kept house.

"I'm impressed, Naruto, it's not near as messy as I thought it would be." Ino attempted to compliment.

"Thanks…I think," Naruto said while muttering the last bit to himself. Ino took a seat on the couch while he busied himself in re-preparing the cold, boxed ramen. The minutes ticked by and neither said a word to the other. Eventually the ramen was at an acceptable temperature to re-serve the hungry ninja. Naruto grabbed two clean bowls from the cabinet and split the ramen equally between the bowls. Naruto then brought the warm ramen over to the table and served them, setting each bowl on opposite sides of the table. Upon seeing that the meal was done, Ino sighed and sauntered over to the table and sat down.

The two faced each other for a second before turning their attention to their respected bowls of ramen. Neither knew where to begin. It was obvious that Tayuya's speech had led both of them questioning their beliefs. They finished their meals and lay them aside before finally looking back at each other.

"Well…what did you want to talk about?" Naruto sighed deciding that was the best place to start even though he already knew the answer to the question.

"…Tayuya-san…she's an enemy ninja…isn't she," Ino asked cautiously. Naruto simply nodded. "Then how do we know that she wasn't just trying to manipulate us?" she asked.

"You tell me. You're the mind reader after all…" Naruto stated as Ino looked down quietly trying to sort her head out. "I haven't known her long, but Tayuya isn't a bad person. She's grown up like me. Alone. I think she acts tough so that she doesn't show others that it hurts. I think you know that too…"

"But…she can't be right can she?!" Ino asked laying her whole dilemma out on the table. "The village is our home! These thoughts, this mindset…it just doesn't seem right for a leaf ninja to be thinking these things!"

The two of them had been shown Konoha from a worldly perspective, and now faced with that perspective they found themselves questioning their faith in the country they had so sworn to protect with their lives.

"Well…let's just try to forget about it for now." Naruto decided causing Ino to raise her head to look up at him. "Well…maybe not forget, but just stop thinking about it until we get our heads straight. I think Tayuya's right about one thing though, and that is the jounin aren't teaching us properly."

Ino nodded in agreement, "No kidding. Every time I try to ask Asuma-sensei to train us we always end up at either the barbecue place or on the shougi board. It's _so _annoying."

"Troublesome?" Naruto grinned which caused Ino to lean over the table and smack the back of his head.

"Don't you _dare_ pull a Shikamaru on me right now," Ino glared before softly smiling at the knuckleheaded ninja.

"Alright, alright! Jeez why do girls always have to get violent around me." Naruto questioned to the heavens, which somehow caused Ino to laugh.

"It's because you're a baka, baka!" She smirked before sticking her tongue out.

The rest of the night was filled with playful teasing and an old board game and playing cards that Naruto managed to drag out from his cupboards. Naruto was under the suspicion that Ino was cheating by looking at the answers inside his head, but when he called her on it…well it just didn't ever get either of them anywhere.

"Well," Ino sighed, "It's getting pretty late and I bet my parents are worried sick by now."

Naruto nodded as he walked her to the door of his apartment, "You want me to walk you home or anything?" he asked kindly.

This caused Ino to blush innocently before replying, "No that's okay. I can take care of myself."

Naruto nodded as goodbyes were exchanged and Ino walked away into the night silently. An instant thought came to Naruto's mind, however, which caused him to have to chase her down.

"Ino!" Naruto yelled calling her attention back to him. "Hey, since we both have lazy sensei's I was wondering if you'd like to train with me sometime."

Ino seemed to perk up, "Hey that's a great idea! Just be ready, because I'm not holding anything back!"

With a quick smile and a wink she turned around and took off down the path towards her house leaving Naruto to bask in the glory of Ino's cuteness. Naruto had never really paid attention to Ino before today, but he knew one thing for sure about her…she sure was fun to be around.

As these thoughts drifted in and out of his head he made his way up the stairs to his apartment once again. A sudden chill crawled down his spine as a sudden breeze bristled by him. Upon opening the door to his apartment, a sight befell his eyes that sent him into a stupor.

"What the?! Ero-sennin?!" Naruto yelled.

Indeed the pervy toad sage was lying on his couch mumbling to himself in a drunken stupor about his latest escapades that would help in bringing about the sequel in his Icha Icha Series.

"Oy hey Naruto! Bring me your finest sake! You'll never believe what happened to me." Jiraiya slurred. For some strange reason his drunkenness seemed to make him forget the fact that there was no way that Naruto would even get a hold of a bottle of sake. But then again…It was the pervy sage speaking…

"And she was like, 'I'm gonna kill you' and she brought me close to her chest and hugged me. I was so taken by her compassion that all the air left my body," Jiraiya laughed heartily at recounting the tale. Naruto just sat their looking at him dumbly.

"…Ero-sennin…I think she was probably strangling you…" Naruto commented at the sage's moment of mental retardation.

Jiraiya looked at Naruto for a second before he started laughing heartily. "Of course! Genius Naruto! That's the exact kind of eroticism I need in my book at the moment." He yipped happily as he took out a pocket notebook to write down this new idea. "I knew you wouldn't let me down. Our training trip is going to be a blast. I'll show you all the arts of seduction and—"

Jiraiya continued his ramblings as a guilty look began adorning Naruto's features. Tayuya's word about the sensei's not teaching properly. His dream about Jiraiya training him in a way he didn't want to be trained. His promise to start training with Ino…

"Hey…Jiraiya…I was wondering…can we hold off on the training trip for a little while longer?" Naruto asked cautiously.

Jiraiya seemed to sober up fairly quickly from the question (or maybe he was never actually drunk at all), "Why not?" He asked curiously. "Is there something you're worried about?"

"Well a lot's been going on," Naruto said quietly as he tried to find the words that could properly express his emotions. "I just need some time to think about everything…"

"And you can't do this during the trip?" Jiraiya inquired.

Naruto didn't really have an answer to that question that wouldn't get him into hot water, so instead decided on a half-truth, "Well I promised somebody that I'd train with her for a little while and—"

"With Her?" Jiraiya grinned wide like a Cheshire cat. "Well why didn't you say so sooner?! Who's the girl? When are you getting married? Have you done the dirty yet? When's the baby due?"

All these questions were coming straight from out of nowhere and each one was a little more embarrassing than the next…though he couldn't say for sure he knew what 'doing the dirty' was yet, it had to be embarassing if it came from Ero-sennin's mouth.

"Alright Ero-sennin, shut up," Naruto said with aggravation, "It's not even like that, we're just friends with lazy or in your case pervy teachers and thought we'd do a little training to get stronger!"

Jiraiya just nodded in a way that told Naruto that he was still thinking something perverted. "Okay if you say so, anyway I gotta go. I don't even know how I got here!" He laughed.

Naruto sweatdropped, "With any luck hopefully you'll have completely forgotten this crap by morning.

"Bah, that crap about not remembering stuff after being drunk is crap. Don't let somebody preach you that stuff," Jiraiya slurred happily.

"Whatever you say, Ero-sennin," Naruto sighed as he watched him walk out the door. "Whatever you say…"

The day had been a taxing one filled with lots of things to think about, and as Naruto lay on his bed he let all the ordeals of the day wash over him. Checked out of the hospital, bought ramen for all my friends, discussed worldly views of the village, became friends with Ino, and had a conversation with a drunken Jiraiya…all in all a pretty productive day.

With those thoughts crossing his mind his eyes swayed shut as the sandman (not Gaara) slowly ushered him into a deep sleep…

* * *

From outside Naruto's apartment, Jiraiya watched the boy carefully while making every observation possible about Naruto's demeanor.

"I think you take me for granted, kid," Jiraiya sighed. "I don't know what would make you want to cancel your own training trip, but I will make sure to find out."

With that said, Jiraiya left the young blonde to pleasant dreams.

**Author's Note: Well it's a start. And I've always liked beginnings, and hopefully you've enjoyed this beginning. I apologize to my other readers if you are following my other novels, I'll get to them eventually. I'm just one of those annoying writers that writes when he feels inspired to write for that fic. After all, according to this book I've been reading it isn't a crime to take on a bunch of different stories at once...though it may hurt you guys. lol. Anyway, if you like where this is going...REVIEW THIS STORY! I like reviews if only because I like feedback. It almost makes me feel popular. ha ha. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Believe it or not, yes, I am indeed still alive and kicking. Weird rumor came back around that I had died in a tragic accident. Nope. Not to my knowledge. It's weird what people can come up with when they go without their fanfics for too long...or read too many bad ones in a row. Whatever. Anyway, if any of you are fans of my other works, they will be updated within the next couple of weeks. This one just so happened to be the first chapter I completed. Yay me, for finally getting something done. Anyway, read and review.**

It was raining today. The soft and wet raindrops splashed down onto this cold and unforgiving world yet again. Two people had lost their lives in this rain. An anbu from an enemy village bled out onto the cold wet grass as a shinobi mercifully put him to rest. A sickly middle-aged visitor had collapsed on his way to the village. He knew he was dying and his last request of the world was that he could ask forgiveness from his estranged daughter.

The world mercilessly denied his request.

Nobody in Konoha cared that these two men lost their lives to the rain. The government would cover up the enemy anbu's death and the middle-aged visitor was someone unknown to the village. They would cremate them and scatter their ashes to the wind. Both would be gone without a trace.

And to everyone else…It was nothing more than a simple rainy day…

* * *

The pitter patter of the rain fell forlornly and impacted against Naruto's window as Naruto himself groggily glared outside.

"I hate rainy days," Naruto groaned before throwing the sheets back over his body and smothering his face in his pillow.

As if to spite him a knock came to his door to stop him from returning to his sleep. He pushed himself out of bed and flicked lights on as he passed by them before inevitably trudging towards and answering the door.

Kiba stood their surprisingly as he gave a short mock salute. He didn't know what was weirder. The fact that Kiba was knocking on his door or that Kiba wasn't wearing his trademark jacket.

"I wake you up?" Kiba asked upon seeing the young blonde answer the door in nothing but his necklace and boxers.

"Never mind that. What are you doing here? And why are you out of the hospital?" Naruto asked waving off Kiba's question.

I have a clean bill of health," Kiba stated proudly as he brought out a dalmatian-colored wallet from his pants pocket, "and I'm here to repay you for the food you brought me yesterday."

"Kiba—"

"No, no, I am not going to be indebted to anyone for any reason," Kiba declared pushing a five dollar bill into Naruto's hands.

"Fine," Naruto sighed, "You have breakfast yet?"

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass," Kiba said before smirking, "I don't want to get any food poisoning."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched, "I'll have you know that I am an excellent cook!"

Kiba snorted, "Right, that's why you're always going out to Ichiraku's to eat."

"Why you—"

* * *

Ino Yamanaka walked quietly and calmly through the rain towards her destination, shielded by a pretty purple umbrella she had found on sale at one of the small merchandise shops. She carried with her a satchel filled with books she had grabbed from the local bookstore on various ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu techniques.

She hummed a happy little tune as she skipped along her merry way until she found herself in front of a small apartment complex. As she climbed the steps towards the second floor an argument could be overheard between two people outside. Upon reaching the second story, she instantly recognized the two people as Naruto and Kiba and called out to them.

"Hey guys." Ino greeted kindly

"TAKE IT BACK!" Naruto shouted.

"IN YOUR DREAMS!" Kiba yelled before sticking out his tongue in a very childlike manner.

Time seemed to go in slow motion for Ino as Naruto suddenly tackled Kiba towards the stairs. The two boys were in midair twirling towards her. Her legs couldn't move. She couldn't breathe.

Before she could register it again, time sped back to normal as the two feuding boys slammed into her making the three of them tumble down the stairs in an artistic display of body parts.

Upon coming to a crashing halt on the side of the pavement, the two boys sprung apart and glared at each other as rain slowly soaked their hair and clothes.

"My cooking is NOT bad!" Naruto exclaimed vehemently.

"Are you kidding me?! Chouji missed school for weeks after getting food poisoning from that spaghetti you made for him!" Kiba retorted.

"I was eight!" Naruto defended. "And he had a big bowl of peanut butter before that!"

"What does that have to do with anything?!"

"Peanut butter has been having cases of food poisoning lately!"

Yeah, lately! But not five years ago!" Kiba exclaimed.

All of a sudden, an icy chill ran down both boys' spines. They didn't know where it was coming from but the murderous intention was permeating the air. They whirled around to see the most demonic sight that they had ever seen in their entire lives. An enraged Yamanaka.

"Ino…calm down." Naruto replied gently.

"Ino, what are you making that hand sign for?" Kiba asked worriedly.

"Ino let's talk about this." Naruto begged.

"Naruto do something!" Kiba whined.

"You do something!" Naruto cried.

"I can't! My mom says I shouldn't hit girls!" Kiba whimpered.

Ino pounced and for a split second, the devil descended.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The duo screamed.

* * *

Ino finally breathed a breath of relaxation as she dragged the bloody, bruised, and beaten boys back into Naruto's room.

"She's the devil. There's no other explanation," Kiba whispered quietly to which Naruto nodded emphatically.

"A monster," Naruto agreed. "I am never leaving the house without a cup again."

"Stop reminding me! It redoubles the pain!" Kiba groaned as he pushed his way steadily towards Naruto's couch.

"Naruto!" Ino called out from the other room.

In an instant Naruto hopped the couch and slid to halt on hands and knees in front of her so fast it caused her to yelp and defend herself.

"Yes, Yamanaka-sama," Naruto replied bowing his head down.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Where do you keep your dry clothes? I need something to change into since you two knocked me down."

"Top drawer of the dresser," Naruto replied hurriedly so he wouldn't displease her.

"Thanks," Ino smiled, "and Naruto…"

"Yes Yamanaka-sama?" Naruto asked.

"If you call me that one more time, I'll make sure you die a slow and painful death." Ino stated matter of factly before grabbing a green shirt and a pair of shorts from the top dresser and heading towards the bathroom to change.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as Kiba began busting out laughing. Naruto glared at the dog loving genin hatefully.

"Don't say it," Naruto warned.

Kiba just laughed and wiped a few tears from his eyes. "Whipped."

Naruto tilted his head down ashamedly just as Ino popped out of the bathroom.

"Kiba!" she exclaimed. "Get your wet clothes off of the couch and grab some dry clothes from Naruto's drawer.

"Yes mam," Kiba replied quickly and rushed into Naruto's room for a pair of clean clothes. As he walked back by towards the bathroom he noticed a whipping gesture coming from Naruto out of the corner of his eye. With a quick glare to the blonde, he allowed himself to enter the bathroom.

"Oh and Naruto, I know this is your house, but could you make yourself decent in front of your guests." Ino said with a slight tint of pink in her cheeks.

Naruto realized for the first time that he was still clad in only his boxers since Ino's arrival.

"Whoops! My bad," Naruto laughed embarrassedly as he slowly backed away from Ino and dived for his room and slamming the door shut behind him.

Ino simply rolled her eyes and smiled before she started stacking books from her satchel onto the table.

* * *

"So this is what I have set up," Ino announced to her audience of two, "On the days it rains we will be reading from some of these books. Each of the books is helpful and will hone our skills as ninjas…I think."

"You really want us to read?" Naruto sighed with a disgruntled expression adorning his face.

"Why am I still here?" Kiba asked to no one in particular.

Ino wasn't pleased, "Believe it or not, Naruto, sometimes a ninja's most lethal weapon can be his brain. And also, believe it or not, books and scrolls are filled with knowledge on performing a variety of techniques. So quit complaining!"

Naruto whined slightly as Kiba made a consoling gesture of patting him on the back.

For the next three hours the trio kept their heads fixated to the books. Ino was taking the liberty of reading two books at once, one on genjutsu and the other on medical ninjutsu. Kiba had challenged Naruto to a game of Rock/Paper/Scissors and won the right to read the book on various ninjutsu and taijutsu skills, which left Naruto (much to his dismay) reading a book on traps and diversionary tactics.

"This isn't so bad," Kiba stated as he licked his finger and flipped to the next page.

"Speak for yourself, I don't even know what half of the words in these books mean." Naruto moped still upset from his loss to Kiba.

Ino slid a book down the table that came to an abrupt halt in front of Naruto. Naruto looked at her curiously before looking at the book. It was a dictionary. Naruto groaned. Ino sure had a sick sense of humor.

"Screw this," Naruto exclaimed before two shadow clones poofed into existence. "Alright number one you read the book. Number Two you look the words up in the dictionary."

With that, Naruto stood up and went into his room, leaving his two visitors looking to each other and questioning his actions. A moment later he came out clad in his bright orange jumpsuit and leaf headband.

"I think I'll go visit Tayuya for a little while," Naruto smiled to the two. "You guys wanna come?"

Kiba just shrugged his shoulders, whereas Ino held a doubtful look.

"If it's alright I think I'll just stay here and read. You two can go though." Ino replied kindly.

Naruto simply nodded. "Kiba?"

"Yeah, I could use a break." Kiba said with a hint of relief.

* * *

The hospital had always been a gloomy place on rainy days. The atmosphere of a rainy day did nothing to boost a patient's health, and more patients seemed to die on gloomy days such as this one. Yet Naruto and Kiba continued down the hallway, only stopping outside the door when the guard halted them from going in.

"Ibiki is in the middle of an interrogation at the moment," The anbu guard stated menacingly.

"Understood," Naruto sighed before sitting himself down on a bench beside the door. Kiba mirrored his move.

Before long a painful sounding scream echoed from the other side of the door. A string of curses and a lot of taunting soon followed. Then yet another scream filled the corridors. Kiba looked unsettled.

"What's going on in there?" Kiba asked.

"She's one of the sound ninja that helped Sasuke escape," Naruto replied quietly, "They keep torturing her to get information, but she won't budge. This may sound strange, but you can't help but admire her for it."

Kiba adorned what Naruto thought to be a thoughtful look before replying, "I guess I can see your point."

Not too long later Ibiki came out of the room. He gave Naruto and Kiba an uninterested glance before walking off. With his 'interrogation' completed, the boys were allowed access to Tayuya's room.

Tayuya looked like she had taken a turn for the worst. Each of her fingers had been broken and she sat there helplessly trying to snap her fingers back into place.

"Need some help?" Naruto asked softly.

Tayuya didn't say anything. She simply glared up into his blue eyes before forcefully pushing her right hand in his direction. Naruto tried to make it as quick and painless as possible as he snapped and popped each finger back into place for her. Once he had done that, she, herself, snapped her left hand's fingers back into position.

"I'll give you one thing," Naruto stated. "You certainly know how to take it."

"Tch." Tayuya sighed, "If I got the chance, I'd castrate that son of a bitch."

The atmosphere went silent as everyone in the room tried to find something to talk about. Surprisingly Tayuya settled with a conversation with Kiba.

"You're the bastard who killed Sakon and Ukon, right?" she asked with a hint of venom.

"I had help," Kiba replied simply.

"Tch," Tayuya scoffed. "Of course you did. Only proves my point further how unfair life is sometimes."

The door suddenly slid open as Ino slowly but steadily walked inside the room. The three only slightly recognized her as she brought herself beside the other two visitors. Tayuya looked like she was about to acknowledge her when Naruto cut her off.

"Why do you say life is unfair?"

Tayuya measured him for a moment before doing the same to the other two before sighing and replying, "I dedicated my life to serving Lord Orochimaru. We had a plan to destroy Konoha village from the inside out. To end their high and might supremacy bull shit."

"It turned out to be nothing but a fleeting dream," she continued, "The sand realigned themselves with Konoha and our leader had his arms rendered useless…so he sends us to get Uchiha for his new body…Uchiha decides to come with us willingly, and yet this shithole refuses to let it happen. It sends genin of all things to take the Uchiha back. You systematically separated and killed us off. My comrades. My friends. And yet here I am, everyday, being tortured for information. Information that's probably not even good anymore…It fucking sucks."

Naruto watched on star struck by the amount of pain that she had been holding back. Silent tears fell down Tayuya's face and she did nothing to stop them. For the first time, Naruto began to realize that even though she was an enemy, she was still human. He didn't know how the other's felt about this, but…he felt sorry for her.

"But you want to know what the worst part is," Tayuya went on sniffing ever so slightly, "The person I believed in the most has done nothing to help me. Nothing to save me from this nightmare I've had to endure."

Naruto didn't know what to think. He wanted to help her, but helping her would mean betraying the village, which he also didn't want. He needed to ask if there was any way he could get Tayuya out of this mess. But he wasn't going to tell her about this with Ino and Kiba here. He had no idea where there thoughts on the matter were at the moment.

Before anymore words could be spoken, Ibiki came into the room along with the two anbu that had been guarding the door.

"Commendable work Uzumaki," Ibiki clapped, "When you're older you might suit well as an interrogator."

The group of young teens looked around at Ibiki confusedly before Tayuya pierced Naruto with the most menacing glare he had ever seen in his life.

"You son of a bitch! You set me up!" Tayuya shouted furiously.

"You set yourself up," Ibiki stated soberly, "This room is littered with hidden microphones. We monitored every conversation you had in this room. Take her away."

The two anbu guards tugged Tayuya out from her bed. Her broken legs she had slung came crashing down hard onto the cold linoleum floor. A painstaking sob came out from her body as she was carelessly dragged out of the room.

"Where are they taking her?" Ino asked with a hint of worry.

"A jail cell. We'll keep her there until her public execution," Ibiki stated.

"Public execution?!" Kiba reiterated with bewilderment.

Ibiki gave him a glance before nodding, "The people will want to see someone brought to justice for kidnapping Sasuke Uchiha."

Was this really how society was? The government hid the true details of Sasuke's capture and instead informed the people that it was a kidnapping? Why? Naruto couldn't begin to understand why there was such a need for that kind of lie.

"**This is the way of the World, kid. Higher ups lie for self glory. Some might call it Injustice or Unfair, but that's just the way the world is. Corrupt."**

The fox was getting underneath him again…and yet…at the same time…he couldn't help but feel the same way about the subject.

"We'll keep her locked up in a detention facility until her execution Saturday," Ibiki stated while carefully watching Naruto. "I'll be looking forward to seeing you three again in future chuunin exams."

* * *

Naruto, Ino, and Kiba quietly walked back to Naruto's home. Upon reaching there, it became extremely quiet. Ino had taken up to checking if her clothes were dry. Kiba had grabbed his book again and started reading. Naruto, however, had gone straight to the couch and was now staring up at the ceiling.

"It's all my fault," Naruto acknowledged causing Ino and Kiba to look at him. "She's going to die because she trusted me."

"Naruto…" Ino said quietly with a hint of sorrow.

"It would have happened eventually anyway," Kiba declared. "So you shouldn't beat yourself up about it."

"But it's on my shoulders," Naruto stated quietly getting up.

"So what?" Kiba said uncaringly and slightly confused, "She's an enemy. I don't get what the big deal—"

Naruto's fist collided with Kiba's face. Ino gasped as Kiba fell back onto the floor. Kiba shook his head as though not quite understanding what had just happened.

"What the hell was that for?!" Kiba yelled as his hotheadedness gave rise to his anger.

Naruto looked almost as surprised as Kiba at his actions. He sighed slightly and apologized quietly. He walked to the door slowly.

"Naruto…?" Ino called, "Where are you going?"

"Out," Naruto replied, "I need to get my head straight."

"I'll say," Kiba grumbled bitterly.

Naruto walked out the door slamming it shut on the way out.

"What the hell's his problem?!" Kiba vented irritatedly.

"I don't know exactly…" Ino said cautiously, "but when you called Tayuya an enemy…I don't know but it didn't sound right. I can't really explain it."

Kiba gave a bewildered look to the Yamanaka, "You're both nuts."

Ino began placing books back into her satchel quietly before taking her clothes off the clothesline she'd hung up inside, "To be honest, it has something to do with what Tayuya told us about life outside of Konoha."

Kiba just shook his head back and forth rubbing the bridge of his nose while massaging his eyes, "I honestly don't want to think about this."

Ino nodded understandingly, "Neither do I. But…if you want to know what's going through our heads, then you should talk to Tayuya."

She had everything put in her satchel and now grabbed her purple umbrella by the door.

"Anyway, I've gotta go. My parents will flip out if I'm not home for my shift at the flower shop."

With that said, Ino left the Uzumaki residence leaving Kiba billowing with the confusing words of two of his fellow comrades.

"I don't get it…I don't understand at all!"

And with that said, Kiba snagged his clothes from earlier off the clothesline and vehemently slammed the door of the apartment closed.

**Author's Note: That is that for this chapter. I think it came out pretty good considering I've been completely inactive for the past 3-4 months. Maybe I haven't lost my knack. Anyway, if you liked it, review it. If you disliked it, review it. If you feel like you're extremely bored and need to get something off your chest...what the hell, review it. I enjoy as much feedback as possible. Hopefully this fic will get popular. I know I am enjoying writing this fic. See you when Chapter 3 comes around.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hey, all you fanfictioners. Back again with a new chapter for my fiction. I love this website. It's a great outlet for expressing yourself I think. So I'm just going to give a round of applause to the people who created this website. You people are awesome. And very creative might I add. Seriously not many people could come up with an idea for a site like this...or maybe it's just me. Either way. Congrats to the staff for making a wonderful website.**

**That aside, I think you want to go ahead and read my beloved fic and NOT read me kissing ass to the website hosts...yeah...just read chapter 3 XP.**

The ever real reality continually waged war inside his mind. In such a world as this one, why is there only loss and never gain. It was a question he had pondered once before while still young but never given much thought. After all, at the time he was a child.

Naruto sighed as he flopped down to the ground and laid his back against the brick wall, watching and contemplating as the tiny raindrops fell and splashed harmlessly onto the earth and himself. He often went to the top of the Hokage's mountain to pay respect, but tonight he sat alone in a dank alleyway just begging for an answer to the looming question stationed inside his head.

"What is right and what is wrong?" Naruto spoke aloud with only the passing sewer rat as his audience.

He didn't know anymore. How could life be so unfair for one person and considered justice for another? He wasn't sure of much of anything anymore. Tayuya was someone he had unintentionally began looking toward for advice, and now, because he looked toward her, she lies in a guarded jail cell awaiting a public execution.

"She doesn't deserve to die!" Naruto yelled slamming his fist down angrily, unintentionally crushing the passing sewer rat under his fist.

She had been doing a duty for her country. For _her_ leader. Why? Why should she be punished? It wasn't her fault she grew up amongst the Sound…

"Nothing makes sense anymore…" Naruto sighed as he let the falling rain comfort him into a silent slumber.

* * *

The prison cells that normally remained quiet were now playing host to the young sound ninja, Tayuya. She stood shakily on broken legs chained to the wall by her hands from the ceiling. Even through all the torment she kept her attitude.

"Hey…Hey…! Dumbass," Tayuya called out to the anbu outside her cell. The anbu looked toward her in a cold demeanor.

"If you're going to fucking kill me, make sure to put my corpse in the ground. I don't want any of that cremation bull shit. I want some sort of evidence I made a mark on this world." She spoke casually with a smirk gracing her face.

The anbu didn't seem to like her tone. She grabbed the keys to the jail cell from her pocket, unlocked Tayuya's cell, and proceeded to smash her boot into Tayuya's already broken leg.

Tayuya cried out in pain and anger as she was tormented painfully with no means of defending herself.

"Make another comment and I slice out an eye," The anbu stated coldly.

Tayuya glared hatefully into the anbu's mask honestly daring her to do it.

"That's enough."

The two women, anbu and prisoner, looked in the direction of the voice to see Ibiki Morino standing in a military manner with his hands behind his back and at attention.

"You are dismissed," Ibiki ordered calmly.

The anbu glared once more at Tayuya before exiting the room and leaving Ibiki alone with Tayuya.

"What the fuck does a bastard like you want to say to me?" Tayuya asked with a hint of irritation.

"Goading the anbu into slipping up and letting you take advantage of the situation will never happen." Ibiki said offhandedly. Tayuya cursed at his intellect of knowing what she was planning.

"Konoha is not without sympathy," Ibiki continued on, "that is why we will offer you a final testament."

"You mean a will?" Tayuya snorted in a rather unladylike fashion.

"Correct."

"Saying you are not without sympathy when you secretly and purposefully abuse your prisoners for no other reason than sheer enjoyment…you want my final testament…? Fuck off!" Tayuya shouted.

"As you wish," Ibiki said rather formally. "Remember Miss Tayuya…two more days…and your life is over." He reminded her before walking out the door.

"As if I need to be told…" She sighed out of aggravation and bitterness as a strand of matted hair fell down over her face

Tayuya blew the hair out of her eyes out of irritation before settling on looking out the barred, glassless window towards the night sky. What surprised her was that a young man was visible outside leaning precariously against the barred window.

"How long have you been there?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter," Kiba Inuzuka replied coldly. "I still haven't forgiven you, you know."

"Like I fucking care," Tayuya retorted causing Kiba to snarl to himself. It quieted for a while with the only noise in between being Tayuya's shackles as she unsuccessfully tried to find a comfortable position to sleep while standing up (with broken legs).

"You know…" Kiba finally spoke up, "with how Naruto and Ino speak of you, they almost had me fooled that you were somebody important."

"What are you talking about?" Tayuya questioned.

"You said something to Naruto. An opinion he values so much that when I degraded you, he decked me." Kiba stated. "What the hell could someone like you possibly say to him that is so important?"

Tayuya lifted her head to the ceiling in a contemplative fashion before replying, "Fuck if I know."

Kiba whirled around and shook the bars on the window glaring furiously at Tayuya. "Tell me the truth! What did you say to them?!"

Tayuya looked long and hard into Kiba's glaring eyes before telling him plainly, "A person like you would never understand."

"Try me."

"Fine," Tayuya laughed bitterly, "What's the difference between a name and a face?"

Kiba looked at her completely baffled, "What does that have to do with anything?!"

"To most people it means nothing and to a select few it means everything." Tayuya declared. "A person can share a name with another person. People often take pride in their clan name and what it means to them. For some it is their bloodline and for others it is what makes them unique. But that's not exactly true."

"Yeah and why's that?" Kiba asked annoyed.

"People think their names are unique when others across the globe likely share it. What really makes a person unique is their face and yet the sad thing is that many people will stand in front of the mirror trying desperately to fix themselves to look better, prettier, nicer and whatever other bullshit. It's a sad world we live in when one of the few things that make us unique is so easily discarded.

"And how strongly do you believe that bullshit?" Kiba snarled.

"Enough to discard my last name," Tayuya replied calmly and quietly.

Kiba shrugged his shoulders before slamming his fists into his pockets and turning back away from Tayuya to the position he was in earlier.

"So what the hell does that silly speech have to do with what you told Naruto?" he asked.

"That the world cares a lot more for what is meaningless than what is meaningful," Tayuya stated with a hint of disgust, "Girls like that Yamanaka girl make me want to retch when I look them in the eye. She's the exact kind of person I despise the most—"

"Hey," Kiba interjected, "Look. I get it…kinda..."

Tayuya breathed a heavy sigh, letting herself simmer down from her one-sided debate. "So did I answer your question?"

"Yeah…" Kiba said pushing his head back against the barred, glassless window. "I gotta go. The anbu will be coming back by this side in a few minutes."

"How the hell do you know that?" Tayuya questioned but the only answer she received was Kiba patting his nose with his index finger before spreading his hands in opposite directions and freefalling off the small ledge he had been standing on and out of Tayuya's sight.

* * *

Naruto coughed, rousing himself from his slumber. He had been walking around in the rain and yet now he was in his apartment sitting up in his bed. Morning had set in. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He scooted himself off of his bed and just as his legs touched the floor a massive headache hit him like a ton of bricks as a vast amount of information swirled through his head.

He forced himself out of bed and towards the kitchen. As he came around the corner, there, low and behold, was Jiraiya sitting at his kitchen table. He was studying over some of his famed "research" notes while creating a rough draft for his next novel. He even had the stereotypically acclaimed reading spectacles adorning his eyes as he jotted down new sentences filled with perverted material. He giggled delightedly as he read over what he had written.

But Naruto really didn't give a damn about that at the moment. All he wanted was the ibuprofen.

As he reached into the medicine cabinet, Jiraiya spoke aloud, "Found you in an alley last night. I thought it'd do well to bring you home."

"Thanks," Naruto muttered thankfully.

"The least I can do for my little travel buddy," Jiraiya grinned from ear to ear before turning serious. "Can I ask why you were there?"

"Looking for a little peace and quiet," Naruto said. "Mull things over in my head."

Naruto blinked. 'Mull? Since when in the hell have I used that word?'

Jiraiya looked particularly baffled, "That's not a common term used by a twelve year old. I saw you had a dictionary opened but I had no idea you could actually read it."

Naruto was too confused to allow the provoking humility of Jiraiya's statement to impact his thoughts. He knew and understood things he was sure he didn't know the night before. Suddenly, realization hit Naruto that all the new information he had attained was over the subjects he had told his shadow clones to read over: traps, diversionary tactics, and the dictionary.

It was as if…

"Holy shit!!!" Naruto exclaimed so suddenly that Jiraiya tipped over the chair he was sitting in and tumbled onto the ground. But Naruto had no time to think about that. He quickly summoned two more shadow clones and instructed them to continue reading the book and dictionary from yesterday.

"Ero-Sennin! I can learn what my shadow clones read!" Naruto yelled excitedly.

"You mean you didn't know that!?" Jiraiya moaned as he pushed himself up and off the floor popping his back where needed. "Boy, I'm going to overload you on your trip. You're going to need it!"

Naruto glanced up at him with a bored expression on his face before sticking his tongue out at him. Jiraiya's eye twitched.

"Come on, we're eating out."

* * *

Ino Yamanaka sat boredly behind the counter of her parent's shop/home as she watched her mother whistling an unpleasantly upbeat tune as she finished watering a small patch of tulips with the gardening hose before positioning the nozzle to spray over some blooming roses nearby.

"Mom—"

"For the last time Ino, no!"

"But mom," Ino begged. "I need to start training or I'm going to fall behind everyone."

"That's not my problem, sweetie," her mother retorted. "You should consider quitting your ninja training. Start helping me out with the family business."

"Mom," Ino scoffed, "I can't just water plants for the rest of my life! Besides it doesn't pay too well anyway."

Ino wished she could take back that last statement at the look of fury in her mother's eyes. "You look here missy," her mother went off, "maybe it's not the best paying job but it's where a young woman such as yourself belongs! Men are the breadwinners of the family; let them do the ninja training! You, however, need to be focusing on your etiquette to attract a nice young suitor so you can birth strong children!"

Ino shook her head ashamedly, "Mom, look, I tried living that way. I did. But the Chuunin Exams really put everything in perspective for me. Everybody that was there were stronger than me…"

"Well of course they were!" her mom scolded, "Oh! And to think they made you fight your best friend, Sakura. It burns me up just thinking about it! You really should invite Sakura over again some time soon. She'll start thinking you aren't friends anymore if you're not careful."

"Right…" Ino sighed. "I'm going to go train now."

Ino untied her apron and set it on the counter and marched toward the door. "Ino," her mother called out, "I said you need to stay here and help me manage the shop! Get back here this instant!"

"I quit." Ino stated coldly as she slammed the door and walked out to the training grounds.

* * *

"Hey…Ero-sennin…can I ask you something?"

Naruto took notice when Jiraiya stopped mid-bite through his sandwich as a curious look grazed his face at Naruto's seriousness for his preluding subject. "Go ahead," he answered.

"How do you determine what is right and what is wrong?" Naruto asked quietly and prayed for the wisdom he seeked from the wizened toad sage.

Jiraiya looked at him as though he was stupid, "Well when someone does something that negatively affects another person that is—."

"Let me rephrase that," Naruto interjected having not said his question right. "How do you determine…not really guilt and innocence…more like…?"

"Justice and betrayal?" Jiraiya asked unsurely trying to help the dilemma.

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled with a hint of thankfulness and relief.

Jiraiya looked up to the sky while scratching the bridge of his nose in quiet contemplation before replying with the utmost seriousness, "I honestly don't know Naruto. It's a question that has induced quandary to the masses since the dawning of time. What one man calls justice another may call betrayal. What one man calls betrayal another may call justice."

"Not helping…" Naruto sighed out of aggravation. "This has been bothering me for a while now…I'm trying to find the answer myself, but everything I come up with…I don't know…"

"Give me a 'for instance'," Jiraiya asked with an unusual amount of interest.

Naruto smiled at his understanding tone, "I made an acquaintance in the land of wave named Haku. He told me his story about his past and why he came around to protecting an enemy ninja that he was sided with…and I understood why he sided with that ninja…I understood his justice…even though I wanted to kill him for having nearly killed Sasuke…I couldn't deem him treacherous or villainous…"

"Continue," Jiraiya provoked.

"Not too long after that I met Gaara. He was a merciless killing machine. He could kill in the most barbaric ways imaginable with his power. I watched as he did all but dismember Lee without even flinching…and yet…when he told me his story…once again I found myself understanding of his sense of justice…I couldn't find it in myself to call him a bad guy.

"Let it all out," Jiraiya pushed him onward.

"And then Sasuke…" Naruto choked up a bit. "He betrayed this village for power…and yet when he told me why he was doing it…I could understand his reasoning…It didn't seem like betrayal in my opinion. Of course I still wanted him to come back to the village and be a part of our lives…but…"

"You lost focus on what was driving you to bring him back and it worked against you," Jiraiya stated to which Naruto ashamedly nodded. "I know how that feels, kid. More than you could ever imagine.

A quiet silence waved the conversation away as a cool breeze pressed against them from the east blowing some of the tension off.

"Listen closely to me, Naruto," Jiraiya calmly answered, "I cannot tell you what is justice and what is betrayal. That is something that you have to learn for yourself. What I will tell you is that everyone has a story, a perspective, an ideal, a dream, and a heart. They are the things that mold a young boy into the man he will become. So you should be careful in where you place your trust."

Naruto nodded graciously before asking, "What if…where you place your trust leads you down a harsh road…?"

"No matter how harsh the road, if you are putting your trust in what you believe then you will have nothing to regret," Jiraiya grinned as a light bulb seemed to go off in his head. "That's it! Once again a conversation with you has struck gold for my next Icha Icha novel. God bless you boy!"

Naruto smiled happily for the first time since this whole episode of contemplation and confusion started. Finally, thankfully, he had come to a satisfactory conclusion to his problem. "Thanks for the advice, Ero-sennin."

* * *

Naruto walked the serene path down by the training fields after his long talk with Jiraiya. He had hoped that he would be able to try out some of the different entrapment techniques he had learned from the book. The shadow clones he had reading the book had finished not too long after the end of his conversation and poofed out of existence leaving Naruto with a massive headache and a new variety of techniques to try out. However fate seemed to have a different path set in stone for him.

As he walked the crisp, dirt path down to the training field he found Kiba leaning up against the nearby tree watching as Ino repetitively kicked one of the training dummies with all the rage of an angry hornet.

"What's up with her?" Naruto asked cautiously.

Kiba shrugged his shoulders, "Been that way for the last couple of hours. I tried to leave but she's pulling off some advanced stuff so I've been jotting down some notes."

Naruto looked down to see that Kiba indeed seemed to be writing and not just doodling like he figured he would be doing.

"So getting pointers from girls now huh?" He asked as a Cheshire grin adorned his face.

"Tell her and I'll kill you," Kiba threatened to no avail. However, Naruto surprisingly let the subject go.

The two shifted into silence as they watched Ino plop down to the ground after a powerful four move combo broke the training dummy in half. Naruto and Kiba quickly ran over to make sure she was alright and ascertained she was fine as she shrugged off their help and pulled herself up from the ground.

"How long were you two watching me?" She asked embarrassedly.

"Not too long""

"_Way_ too long."

Ino chuckled at Naruto's and Kiba's tag-teamed answering of her question before Naruto began talking, "Actually I was hoping I would run into you both."

Kiba and Ino looked at each other confusedly before looking back to Naruto and answering at the exact same time. "Why?"

Naruto leaned in closely and formed a group huddle, wrapping his arms around Ino and Kiba, "I'm going to bust Tayuya out of prison."

Ino's and Kiba's eyes widened in complete shock before Kiba spoke up, "Good god…I knew you were called the unpredictable, knuckleheaded ninja…but…"

"But what the _hell_ are you _thinking_?!" Ino tagged in, shrieking in a quiet whispered voice. "The village would consider that grounds for _treason_! If you were caught, you'd be executed alongside her!"

"Then I won't get caught," Naruto declared grinning widely probably causing Ino and Kiba to doubt his sanity. "I know the risks, but Ero-sennin told me that only I can decide what grounds are for justice and betrayal. I want to make a world uncorrupted by politics. A world where we stand united under one ruler to put an end to the fighting, bloodshed, and oppression that dominates this cruel world."

"Naruto…"

"I need help though," Naruto went on, "I can't do this alone. I need her…and I also need you two…so…are you in?"

"Definitely," Kiba replied immediately.

"Kiba!" Ino looked at him shocked, "Wasn't it you who was against all of this yesterday?!"

Kiba shrugged his shoulders. "Things happen."

"Ino…?" Naruto goaded seriously. "Come on, Ino…"

Ino grimaced a little bit as she stared deeply into Naruto's eyes. Almost as though she was looking for her answer deep inside his soul before she finally spoke softly and unsurely. "Okay…"

"Good," Naruto sighed in relief. "I've devised a plan, but it's tricky and I need you both to look it over. Make sure I didn't mess up anywhere."

Ino and Kiba nodded.

"Let's go back to my place to get started on the details."

With his plans coming to fruition, he mass-produced fifty shadow clones to begin training on the tactics he learned from the traps and diversionary tactics book so that when the time came he would be able to use them to the best of his abilities. He ushered Kiba and Ino to follow him towards his home where they would begin devising all the tactics necessary for the prison break later that night…

One thing was for certain. This would be no easy task. And their lives…forevermore…would never be the same again…

**Author's Note: This chapter is probably the funnest thing I've written in a while, and truthfully holds a lot of the premise to what this is a story about. How do you determine justice and betrayal in certain situations? It's probably one of the most confusing subjects you could possibly discuss and is completely open to opinion. There's a lot of talking this chapter and probably even some controversial elements...but that's kind of what sparks a descent into darkness in the first place isn't it? Conflict through controversy. But I digress. I hope you all are having a wonderful time reading this piece as I am having a wonderful time writing it. Don't forget to leave a review. I love reading what people have to say about my work. With all that said, I think I've summed everything up rather nicely. Keep fingers crossed for faster updates. **


	4. Chapter 4

**The long awaited Chapter 4 is here at last...albeit I really have no idea if it was that long awaited. Before I get started I'd just like to say I've had a terrible time writing this chapter. I've screamed at it trying to find the appropriate words to use...but i think everyone has had one of those types of days. So don't let me keep you from it any longer. The bottom author note will try to answer any questions you may have after reading this chapter. That said. Enjoy.**

He stared fixatedly up at the gleaming white stars shining overhead as he synchronized private radio frequencies with his comrades beside him. He silently nodded a confirmation signal to begin the first stages of his plan. Ino and Kiba nodded back and split up in different directions.

He knew…He understood that the village would brand them as traitors. His only hope was that one day the village might re-label his acts tonight justifiable after the dawning of his new regime. It wouldn't be easy and he could honestly say that he had no goals for the moment, but for right now…all he needed to do was focus on the adventure to come…

The very thought of it…had Naruto almost bursting at the seams with excitement.

He scurried to position himself a block away from the facility Tayuya was imprisoned. Kiba had already relayed him the information that she was on the fourth floor, south wall, and second cell from the right. They had all the information they needed.

There was only one minor little hiccup…

* * *

"_How do we escape after we get her out?" Ino asked in a reserved tone._

"_Dunno. Guess we'll just fight our way out?" Naruto asked looking to Kiba who nodded agreeably. Ino stood completely baffled._

"_That's the most retarded idea I've ever heard in my life!" Ino yelled smacking the two of them upside the head. "We're not dealing with a few little genin! What we're doing will warrant the anbu, jounins, and even the chuunins and genins to stop us from getting away!"_

"…_yeah…so…what's your point?" Naruto asked cautiously._

"_Hopeless!" Ino exclaimed out of aggravation._

* * *

"Scavenger to Crow, do we have eyes in the sky? Over." Naruto called through his headset.

Ino responded back quickly. "Crow here…ugh…why do I have to be the crow? Anywho, I've found a nesting place. Eyes will be in the sky in thirty seconds. Over and out."

"Roger that," Naruto replied. "Over and out."

Naruto waited as patiently as possible though he couldn't help that his hands and knees were trembling slightly. It was the feeling he always got right before he unleashed the devious schemes he concocted. He sighed slightly as he thought back on those good old days back at the academy. He looked up finally to see a crow coming in for a landing atop his head. The crow pecked him twice signaling that Ino was possessing it before taking flight once more.

The crow cawed. The coast was clear. Naruto jumped up and ran straight for the building and jumping up each level with a mix of quiet stealth and sheer determination pushing him up to the fourth floor of the complex.

The crow cawed again twice. Naruto quickly and quietly threw a cloak that was the color of the building over him to blend in perfectly. The minutes ticked by and Naruto didn't dare move an inch until he heard that sweet crows caw. He was beginning to get worried as the minutes soon turned into the hour but eventually the crow cawed once more signaling that it was safe to move forward again.

It was the most dangerous game of Red Light, Green Light imaginable.

He edged along the southern wall now and finally after much stress reached his destination outside Tayuya's cell. He pushed himself up against the wall. No one would be able to see him because of the awning above him.

"Tayuya," He whispered to the limp form dangling by the chains binding her wrists. Ibiki had unmercifully wrapped her chains over a support beam. His words failed to reach her as she made no indication that she had heard him. Her head remained lulled forward. If Naruto hadn't of known better he would have figured she was already…

"Psst! Tayuya!" Naruto whispered again shrilly hoping to evoke a response. There was none.

Naruto was beginning to panic as the crow fluttered in to rest on his shoulder. Seeing the situation the crow slipped in between the bars and landed atop Tayuya's head. It pecked it once or twice and Tayuya groaned out of irritance.

"I'm not dead yet you no good fucking piece of shit!" Tayuya yelled shaking her head wildly causing the crow to topple before taking flight again. It flew out between the bars and looked at Naruto before pecking his hand three times. It was the sign that Ino was letting off the jutsu.

"Played it like a professional," Naruto congratulated her. Not too long after he spoke the crow toppled over dead. It had been overexerted by Ino's jutsu. Thus it acted as a sign that Ino had released her jutsu on the poor little critter.

Naruto quickly swallowed any sadness he may have felt and redirected his attention to Tayuya. "Tayuya? You awake?" He asked in a non-disturbing tone.

"Yeah," Tayuya said. "That you, Uzumaki?"

"That's me," Naruto stated heroically. "I'm here to get you out."

Tayuya shuffled a little causing the chains to rattle. Naruto watched her carefully trying to decipher her body language, but it was proving hard as all he could see was her silhouette.

"Is this some kind of guilt trip? You've gotta bust me out because you put me in here?" Tayuya laughed bitterly. "Stay the fuck away from me."

Naruto sighed slightly, "I do feel bad for that. I didn't know they were listening in on our conversation, but that's not why I'm doing this…"

Tayuya raised her head slightly at his words before sagging it back down, "Do yourself a favor and forget about me. I don't want to live anymore."

Naruto's head began spinning as he tried to process what she was saying. "Why?" he asked.

"I have nowhere else to go. There's no way the Sound would accept me back. My team is dead and my dreams are finally shattered."

Naruto carefully processed everything she said before responding, "You want to die?"

"…That's right," Tayuya stated.

"I don't understand...I'm risking my life here trying to save you!" Naruto declared.

"I don't give a shit," Tayuya responded.

This was not part of his plan. Not to mention the heartbreaking feeling that Tayuya's words inflicted upon him. This was a person he looked up to and whose ideals he had made his own, and yet now she stood before him a mere shadow of her former self.

Naruto slumped down in front of her window in quiet contemplation. "What a weird feeling."

"What?" Tayuya asked out of annoyance.

"How do you cope when one of the few precious people in your life no longer believes in herself?" Naruto thought aloud as if to answer her question. "It almost feels like I've lost a bit of my purpose."

"Well good," Tayuya spoke snidely, "Maybe you'll go home to your 'few precious people' and leave me the fuck alone now?" She asked hopefully.

"I can see it from here," Naruto responded in an out of focus manner, "Your execution platform. It's the place where your life ends so long as you stay stubborn."

"Lucky you to be able to see it," Tayuya retorted pulling slightly on her chains.

Naruto sighed out of exasperation and scooted down the side of the wall in a squatting position looking out over Konoha. At the beautiful city in the dead of night and the amazing Hokage Monument that stood in the distance. He smiled slightly as his eyes lay upon the old schoolyard and became somber as his sight passed by his training grounds and the memorial stone.

"Tayuya, what was your dream?" Naruto asked quietly. "My dream is to become the Hokage and have everyone look up to me. To treat me like I'm somebody important, you know?"

"So you're a boy who wants to hog the limelight," Tayuya stated knowingly. "Personally, that's a rather childish goal."

Naruto thought it over in quiet contemplation, "Maybe. Everyone refused to acknowledge me growing up, so I guess it's only natural to have a goal such as that." He said as he looked up to the night sky, "But it's still a goal, a dream. People who can't make goals for themselves…they just waste away. They give up hope too easily and forget what it means to be alive. They lose focus on life and watch it zoom by without a care in the world."

"So what are you trying to say?" Tayuya acknowledged in a dark looming voice.

"What happened to make you want to quit living?" Naruto asked concernedly.

Silence. Neither spoke for what felt like eons. Time had ticked by at a crawl with Naruto continually looking up to the stars as if hoping that his imprisoned comrade's problems were answered within them. Her chains rattled slightly as she shuffled her feet and answered uncomfortably.

"I have never cried. Not once. Nor do I ever intend to. So why should I have to dig up one of my sob stories to give you an answer?"

"Because you are my friend," Naruto said comfortingly, "and I want you to know that I will always be there for you…even through the bad times."

Naruto could hear the steady intake of breath his words had caused in Tayuya. He needed to know what had broken her. You can't mend what is broken without all the pieces. And although he was pushing for time, none of it seemed to be near as important as this conversation.

"What the hell is with you?!" Tayuya yelled. "What the fuck is so interesting about me!? I'm your enemy! I helped your best friend betray the village you love! You're scum! A Konoha bastard! You don't care about anybody but your own! You have nothing to gain from this!!! Get the fuck out of here!"

"No," Naruto stated plainly.

"I'll call the fucking guards!"

"Then do it." Naruto replied seriously. "Maybe then I can finally understand why you've given up on yourself."

A small but shaky intake of breath could be heard from inside the jail. Naruto's eyes widened. She couldn't possibly…

"GUARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed out desperately.

Naruto's jaw dropped. "What the hell?!" He yelled. "You actually did it?!"

He could hear it. The fast-paced footsteps of Konoha's anbu black ops closing in at an alarming rate. Naruto narrowed his eyes and switched his radio back on and tuned it to all frequencies in his private party.

"We've been compromised. Follow through with the plan! Kiba do it now!" Naruto yelled into the mic.

The issue ordered a two-headed white dog emerged from out of nowhere in front of the Hokage monument before proceeding to impact the mountainside and causing a small avalanche. Naruto didn't have time to watch as the legendary heroes who protected the village crumbled and fell, smashing upon impact and crushing a few houses beneath them.

"Diversionary Tactics basics number one, do something so unthinkable that your enemy will have to pause to look at it."

Naruto charged up his Rasengan. The small ball of blue energy swirled around in his palm just long enough to stabilize before Naurto smashed it into the prison wall, blowing a huge hole within the southern wall.

"What the hell is going on?! What are you doing?! Don't tell me you—"

"Oh Tayuya…"

The inner torment that had crushed her spirit seemed so obvious when laid before him. Naruto had never seen someone look less than human in his whole life. Tayuya had told him that corruption breeds within politics but he had never known to what extent…

She hung chained by the wrists over an old wooden support beam forced to stand up on her broken legs as her arms were ripped slightly from their normal resting spot most likely due to being stretched by the chains over a long period of time. That was not to mention the numerous scrapes, bruises and fractures that were noticeable all over her tattered body. But the most unbearable sight to see were the two carved out holes that now inhabited her eye sockets.

They had cut out her eyes.

The anger and rage that passed through Naruto at that moment made it impossible not to unleash some of Kyuubi's chakra. The chakra flooded his body at an alarming rate as two tails quickly formed and the red aura of the fox radiated around him. He swung his claws at the chains slicing them into and causing Tayuya to fall to the floor. He continued the momentum of his swing and brought it back around to catch 3 anbu that jumped into the hole blasting them back with enough force to send them in the direction of the ruins of the Hokage monument.

"**GIVE INTO ME."**

Naruto struggled desperately to retain control of himself.

"**GIVE INTO ME."**

"Get out of my head!" Naruto yelled out of aggravation.

"**YOU NEED ME. WITHOUT ME, YOU ARE NOTHING."**

"I don't need you," Naruto screamed shakily as his whole body went into a spasm. Pieces of his flesh began ripping apart as he slowly started losing control.

"**YOU NEED ME. LET ME TAKE CONTROL!"**

"I thought I told you…you stupid fox," Naruto grunted painfully as his eyes glowed red, "I WANT TO DO THINGS MY WAY, WITHOUT YOU!!!!!!!!!"

His scream echoed throughout Konoha as he slowly fell to his knees coughing. His eyes lost their glow and returned back to their normal shade of blue as the aura around him slowly dissipated.

He didn't have anymore time to waste. He quickly bit his thumb and slammed the summoning jutsu into the ground. The foundation of the prison shook as Gamabunta was summoned on top of the prison. Naruto quickly grabbed onto Tayuya holding her tight to his body and being careful not to hurt her. He pumped chakra into his feet and sprung out the building just as it collapsed as Gamabunta came crashing down on top of it.

"Let me go!" Tayuya yelled as the two fell in midair. "Let me go!!!"

Naruto chopped the back of her neck knocking her unconscious. "Sorry Tayuya, I really can't handle any of that right now."

They landed with a thud before Naruto leaped to his feet and broke into a run towards Gamabunta. On his left Ino's body lay limp as Shikaku Nara carefully held in place over 30 anbu and jounin with the shadow possession jutsu.

"Nice one!" Naruto called out to her.

Ino possessing Shikaku's body nodded. "Don't worry about the body, Kiba is on his way to pick it up."

Naruto laughed lightheartedly as he blew past her and up Gamabunta's back. The old crack-addicted toad didn't look the slightest bit pleased at the moment.

"What is the meaning of all this, brat!?" The wizened toad yelled. "This is in strict violation of the summoning contract!"

"Sorry Bunta, no time to explain we need to get out of here _now_!" Naruto informed him loudly.

"I'm not budging until you tell me what the hell is going on and why I've been summoned against my village!" The old toad replied stubbornly.

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS," Naruto yelled. "The village wants to persecute someone innocent. Look at her and see for yourself the torment she has had to endure!"

The toad looked down to the young woman as if contemplating his decision of the situation. In Naruto's opinion he was wasting valuable time. Kiba, with Akamaru on his shoulder and Ino in hands, landed beside him.

"We need to get out of here. Ino can't hold the jutsu much longer," Kiba said gravely.

"Bunta NOW!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto Uzumaki," The toad said his name as he slowly took out his sword, "I hereby cancel your contract with the toads. From this day forward you are no longer allowed to summon me or any of my brethren."

Naruto's eyes went wide as Gamabunta, with the expertise of a skilled swordsman flicked them onto the top of his massive sized blade and glared deep into the depths of Naruto's eyes with all the hatred of a man that had personally been betrayed.

"Be gone."

Before Naruto could get in a word in edgewise, Gamabunta swung his blade in an upward swinging motion with them still on it. Naruto and Kiba watched in horror as their feet gravitated off of the blade and the team of four ascended into the air at an alarming fast rate over the horizon to inevitably come crashing down to earth and meet a grizzly fate…

**Okay, so here's my beef. I feel like I got most everything I wanted out of this chapter but had a lot of fun-filled trouble conveying it all. I've rewritten this little piece of hell a total of about four times so far but I still don't feel that clenching sensation of BAM! I got that chapter pegged. You know what I'm talking about if you're a writer.**

**I left the plan ambiguous in the story to sort of create that wow factor. Hope it worked, but basically Naruto employed the necessity of diversionary tactics by having Kiba destroy the Hokage monument and Ino using her mind control to take over Shikaku Nara and use his chakra to possess the ninjas as they come towards the prison. I'll let you invent up your own reasoning for how she handled catching Shikaku off guard...really wouldn't be too hard...I mean who would expect there best friend's daughter to betray the village when his best friend is so loyal to it?**

**I think this chapter is pumped full of plot twists and shockers that nobody would have expected...and if you did expect them...Well I'll be honest, I don't think anyone expected this chapter to go anything like this. Whether that's a bad thing or a good thing is hard to say at this point. Anyway, we will be diving into Tayuya a lot more in the chapters to come. I made her blind. Call me evil but it's been a part of my plans from the get go. Sorry, I'm a jerk.**

**No matter which way I went about making this chapter, the team's escape would be based on a completely spontaneous bout of dumb luck. Sadly we must face the fact that a team of genin couldn't possibly take on an entire village of ninjas and be standing at the end of it bored out of their minds.**

**Hopefully this author's note helps out in rectifying any wtf moments you may have experienced while reading the chapter. I'll probably come back to this chapter sometime and see if I can't rewrite some parts, but for now, overall, I'm happy with it and I hope you are too.**

**Chapter 5. Coming soon to a fanfiction site near you.**


	5. Chapter 5

**stilldeluded is back in the game! Hello hello to all you crazy catfish out there in the fanfiction world. Did you miss me? **

**Anyway, been a lot going on with me recently. My apologies for no updates in such a long time. And more importantly, my apologies for not telling you it would happen beforehand. I guess I have a mean streak in me or something.**

**Because I haven't been in the fanfiction business in so long, I may be a little rusty, so I cut this chapter short of what I originally intended.**

**Also I checked through the fanfiction recently...where did all the good authors go...? I don't mean to demean or anything, but seriously there isn't any piece of fanfiction that catches my attention anymore. I'm either getting to old or am not as big a fan as I used to be. Either way it is slightly upsetting.**

**Same rules as before. You read it. You REVIEW it. You make me happy. I'm anxious to see how many of my old readers are still reading and how many new readers I can fish in.**

**Happy Holidays to you all. Here's Chapter five.**

**DISCLAIMER: I hold no rights to Naruto or any of its characters. They are all the property of Masashi Kishimoto. I use them in an effort to pass the time in my boring little world.**

He opened his eyes for the first time in days; his head hurt and he was pretty sure that at least one of his ribs was cracked. As he looked around his surroundings, three things became very clear in a heartbeat.

He was alone.

He had no clue where he was or where his friends were.

He smelled like stinky tuna.

Now the memories took a moment to flood back into his system so he could recall what exactly landed him in this predicament. He had visited a hospital with Ino and met a girl, Tayuya, who found a way to convince him, Kiba, and Ino to 'betray' their country to save her, and in a tragic turn of events decided she didn't want to be saved and got his contract with the frogs revoked.

Naruto is troubled.

Okay, let's face it. Troubled was a word that couldn't even begin to describe the mental state of one Naruto Uzumaki. Oh no. Doubt is quite the devil. It makes you lose confidence in all your life choices.

And for the first time he realized just how incredibly foolish he was for what he had done.

"Oh ho! You up ain'tcha?"

Naruto looked up bewildered to see an old man stooped down on a stool fixing the string on his fishing pole. This was also, strangely enough, the exact moment that Naruto realized that he was bedded inside what he presumed to be this old man's cabin.

"You an' that there bonny lass that was with cha'll be fine and dandy I reckon," the old man continued.

Naruto looked at the man with a blank expression adorning his face, as he couldn't quite comprehend the diction or dialect of this old man.

"I'm sorry," Naruto apologized, "but I have no clue what you just said."

"Well don't that beat all," the old man scoffed," the boy speaks. A miracle must be workin' up there in them heavens after all."

Naruto pulled the covers off his body and made to get up. Although the old man tried to warn him, it was not in time as Naruto applied full pressure to his foot as he made to take a step and immediately found himself falling to the cold, wooden floor in agonizing pain.

"Sorry 'bout that. Tried to warn ya in time." The old man grimaced. "I'll get ya a crutch from me closet."

* * *

Meanwhile…

Ino Yamanaka had found herself unharmed from the fall after Naruto's giant toad had so abruptly flung her pretty little butt sky high. Never before that day had Ino Yamanaka ever been so disgusted with her diet. Because of her evil diet she was forced to watch as all her fellow 'traitors' (or at least she was sure that was what she had been branded by now) lost velocity and fell back down to firm soil long before her.

The only good thing she could say about her predicament was that she was happy that she landed in a firm safety net that was harnessed within the thicket of trees. The bad thing was…

"Ichi noonchi abi kori temi bobbe!"

…said safety net was connected between said thicket of trees as a roadway for a tribe of scary, tree-living cannibals that lived within this particular forest.

'I'm so screwed…!' Ino Yamanaka thought as the tribesmen angled their spears down toward her.

* * *

He slid down into the chair cautiously so as to not aggravate his broken leg and pushed himself closer to the broken girl's bedside.

'Tayuya is a mess,' Naruto thought as he took out a strand of cloth and tied it around her eyes. According to the old man, she was looking better by the day but could just as easily die due to her condition. The interrogation squad of Konoha was definitely not a force to be trifled with.

The old man entered quietly with a bowl of soup and laid it on a table beside Naruto. "You really oughtta be getting some sleep boyyo. Let me handle this."

Naruto shook his head in reply, "She is my responsibility."

The old man looked like he would press the matter further, but backed out of it. Instead he elected to leave the room quietly and let him and Tayuya be.

* * *

"Alright…where the hell…am I?"

Kiba Inuzuka trekked through the forest uncertainly with Akamaru sniffing out the trails of any of his friends up ahead. He sniffed the air with precision and could tell that a storm was coming. If he and Akamaru couldn't pick up the track soon, then the rain would surely wash away any traces by the next day. Good thing if Konoha sent out pursuers. Bad thing if he couldn't track any of them down in time.

He had to take a break again so he leant against a tree for support. He was nursing a broken arm and a slight concussion which was causing his vision to blur in and out. He had to keep going though. He knew what was at stake here. If he couldn't track at least one person down, then he would be nothing but a sitting duck with a "kill me" sticker printed on his back.

"Why must women always cause trouble for us men?" Kiba sighed knowingly (as at his old home he was the only man in the house) to himself. "Those three…if I see them again," he yawned as his vision faded, "I don't know if I'll want to hug them or kill them."

He took too long a rest and before realizing it had fallen into a deep slumber.

* * *

'Day three since separation from my comrades and still no sign of Kiba or Ino,' Naruto contemplated as he prodded his crutch against Tayuya's bed while leaning back in his chair. 'and no signs of Tayuya waking up anytime soon…'

The old man had set out yesterday to the nearest town to bring a doctor to help heal their injuries and Naruto had spent his time between caring for Tayuya and fishing in the pond behind the old man's cabin.

He didn't know whether he'd be able to trust this doctor or not. Anyone from a town was considered untrustworthy at the moment. He was growing tired of sitting around and waiting patiently for Kiba to track them down. If something didn't change soon…

"I might have to leave them all behind…" Naruto declared aloud in a hushed tone.

He didn't want to have to consider that option. To do so would be to stop believing in his friends. He wanted nothing more than to continue this dangerous road he set foot on with his friends by his side, but he also knew that he had a goal to achieve. No matter the cost…

Tayuya coughed.

Naruto looked up from his thoughts. It was the first sign of life Tayuya had given since he had woken up. His excitement furthered even more as she started to rouse from her sleep.

"Tayuya?" Naruto prodded as he poked her a little with his crutch.

She twitched slightly before pushing her hand weakly up to the cloth tied around her eyes.

"Where the fuck am I?" Tayuya questioned raspily.

"Not sure to be honest." Naruto replied. "Glad to see you're finally awake."

"Tch…well that makes one of us," Tayuya rasped with irritancy. "Water."

It took Naruto a second to realize what she was asking for, but then he quickly helped her sit up and placed a glass of cold water in her hands for her to drink.

She drank the water down in an instant and asked for a refill to which Naruto complied. Half way through the second glass, Tayuya got choked and erupted into a coughing fit as Naruto calmly patted her on the back.

"Easy..." Naruto lectured tenderly.

"Uzumaki…right?" She coughed. "You're a fucking bastard."

Naruto stayed quiet for a second before picking up the soup on the bedside table and ladling a spoonful of the broth for her to eat. "Open up. You need to eat."

In retaliation, Tayuya flung her hand around and slapped the bowl of soup to the floor and breaking it in an instant.

"Fuck you!" Tayuya yelled, hurting her voice. "I fucking hate you! I told you to leave me alone! I told you to let me die! Why the fuck couldn't you do that for me!"

Naruto watched the woman silently as she continued her scolding.

"I would've happily died! You bastard! For the first time in my life, I felt like somebody actually liked me for who I am! I wasn't just a meager puppet of Lord Orochimaru or the feared badass chick of the Sound Four. I was just Tayuya! No one has ever treated me with as much goddamn respect as you did, Uzumaki!"

Naruto remained silent.

Tayuya continued, softly this time, "You played cards with me…laughed with me…listened to me…believed in me…even gave me food. I wasn't worth that…I'm not worth any of that!" she yelled.

"Shut up!" Naruto shouted with enough force to silence even the most intimidating of men. "You think you're the only one who suffers? People suffer every day! I'm not trying to undermine the suffering you must have endured all your life, but I sure as hell will undermine the way in which you mean to end your suffering."

"You don't understand at all…" Tayuya stated quietly, "my death was going to serve as a symbol. It would show the true cruelty of not only Konoha, but the world as a whole. I could have died happily knowing I changed the hearts of everyone who witnessed my death."

"You're wrong," Naruto told her flat out. "In death, you would have been nothing more than a scapegoat the village could use to blame for Sasuke's defection. Your final words would have been nothing more than the ramblings of an enemy ninja."

Tayuya, for once, was at a loss for words.

"Nothing changes in death." Naruto spoke thoughtfully, "If you want something to happen, then you've got to make it happen in life. And if you need proof to back up that argument…here I am. You changed me, Tayuya. I now believe what you believe because you made me think that you were right. You didn't have to die to show me anything."

Tayuya sat quietly in her bed listening to the young blonde's words of wisdom.

"…and that's why you saved me?" she asked tentatively.

"Yes," Naruto responded affirmatively, "that's all the reason I needed."

Tayuya slid down into her bed until her head rested on her pillow.

"…I'm fucking exhausted." Tayuya sighed conversely. "I think I'm going to hit the fucking hay."

Naruto chuckled a little to himself as he rubbed the back of his head. He picked up his crutch and made to stagger his way out of the room when Tayuya interrupted.

"Uzumaki," she said just loud enough for him to hear from the doorway, "you tell anyone about this shit…I'll fucking kill you."

Naruto smiled a real smile. His first real smile since this whole mess started.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Tayuya," Naruto retorted with a foxy smirk as he walked out, closing the door behind him.

* * *

**..and there you go ladies and gentlemen. Chapter 5 is completed. How was it? How have you all been?**

**I'm hoping continuity issues weren't a problem. You see a very profound thing happened to me recently. My old computer that I wrote everything on...fried. It was heartbreaking. I buried it in the back yard next to the family dog. I hoped you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

**Here's my dilemma, I got a new computer. The good news. Bad news is that I need a product key to use microsoft offices...oh shi-! Anyway, because of this problem...I can't write unless I'm at home...where I'm at right now. That's why you got a chapter. I will try to have this problem remedied as soon as possible, but until then I'm going to try and update this fic as much as I can over the holidays.**

**Leave a REVIEW. I always love to see my reader's insight into my chapters/stories. It helps put it all into perspective for me and also keeps me from getting too far out of line. So please REVIEW.**

**Alright, I've said all that I feel I really need to say. So I'll see you when the next chapter writes itself. stilldeluded is out!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Hello again one and all. Three days since my last update and I'm already back with a new chapter. Gotta give a round of applause to saiyan prince1 for giving me the heads up on Open Office. You can probably thank him for my ability to mass produce this quickly. Of course, it also helps that I've been in bed the last two face recuperating from getting my wisdom teeth cut out. Ouch for me. But thanks from you. You wanna know why? You get a new chapter, that's why!**

**I'm back to my normal length with this chapter, thankfully. That last chapter was just a little too quick to read in my opinion. This chapter I was really trying to get more detail back into my fics and for the most part I think it turned out well, so love it or hate it? REVIEW it. Make me happy. I like hearing back from all of you. It is quite inspirational. Props to my reviewers. Props.**

**Another head's up for people who follow my stories, there are about to be quite a few re-editings for "A Sensei's Duty". One of my good friends looked over it and pointed out where I had made grammatical mistakes, needed more detail, etc. etc. So I'd also like to thank ShowTime for taking his precious time to help me out with that.**

**That's all I have to say for now. See you down low and enjoy the new chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Naruto and all its related characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. No credit goes to me and I am aware that I will be paid no money for my fanfiction.**

It had been five days now since separation. Two days since Tayuya first woke up. Having Tayuya around to talk to now definitely helped ease Naruto's worries, but every now and then his mind couldn't help but wonder what could have happened to his compatriots.

For the most part, Naruto busied himself from his worries by finding any way he could possibly train himself. These training methods, however, were incredibly limited due to his broken leg. For the most part it consisted of two things. Chakra build-up and reading.

After his miracle accident that helped him realize the true nature of the shadow clones, Naruto had been fully abusing their learning mechanism. He'd ordered a hundred clones to crawl using only their hands to the lake behind the old man's cabin and walk on the water while trying to make his Rasengan bigger. Progress on that front so far had only come in baby steps, but progress was progress he supposed. He could now at least perform a one-handed rasengan.

His biggest progress, however, was in his intelligence. Ever since the old man left, Naruto had been ordering a few clones to read the books that the old man had scattered around the house. The old man was by no means a reader, but he did have a few books here and there that Naruto would force a clone to read. Most of them were basic survival books, which didn't really surprise Naruto as he figured the old man had been living out here in the middle of nowhere for a good amount of time. What did catch Naruto's eye was a book on politics and government that his clone seemed to read with a lot of enjoyment.

Naruto really had to thank that book for helping him calm Tayuya down from doing something drastic the other day. He hated to admit it, but the idea of losing any of his friends was something that scared him to death. Without his friends, he knew he would just be another name easily crossed out of the bingo books, but as a team...well they sure as hell could make it harder on anyone after them.

'We all need to get a whole lot stronger. We can't get caught no matter what!' Naruto thought to himself as he walked into Tayuya's room and continued his training with her.

While his clones were out training, Naruto himself had been training Tayuya's hearing. He didn't know if Tayuya would ever get her vision back, or (if she could) how long it would take. What he did know was that she needed to be capable to fight if the time comes, and she wouldn't be able to do that if she suddenly ran into a tree in the middle of a battle.

"Ready, Tayuya-san?" He asked pleasantly.

"Uzumaki, I've told you to stop fucking calling me that!" Tayuya berated while grating her teeth together in aggravation. "It's just Tayuya! Now can we get this started?!"

"Uzumaki...what, Tayuya-san?" Naruto hummed, ignoring her question with a cheshire grin adorning his face.

"You better not be fucking smiling or I'll kick your ass!" Tayuya yelled throwing a pillow in his general direction. Naruto couldn't help but consider it progress when it hit softly against his (good) leg.

"Say it," Naruto said in a sing-song voice.

"I'd rather cut off my ears than call you of all people my sensei," Tayuya deadpanned, spoiling his fun.

Naruto sighed, "Alright, fine. We'll get started then."

The training methods were actually rather simple. Naruto would clap his hands at different places around the room and Tayuya would have to point directly at him. Then Naruto would toss a kunai in a random direction and Tayuya would have to determine where the kunai was and where it was thrown from. It was about as much as he could do while Tayuya was bedridden unfortunately. The only thing that really worried Naruto was if the old man would be pissed off at all the kunai markings being embedded into his walls due to the training.

This training regiment continued for the next few hours until Naruto's stealth clone suddenly disappeared within the forest. The old man had been spotted by the clone and was returning with two men in his company. In an instant, Naruto dispelled all his clones and told Tayuya to be prepared for anything. She nodded.

"Ah, seems he left this here door unlocked." The old man spoke conversationally to whoever he was with upon his arrival, "He's probably back in the back there lookin' after that there lassie still."

Rushed footsteps were approaching the door at urgent speed. Naruto pulled out a kunai and prepared to pounce on whomever opened the door. Time seemed to freeze for a second as a cold sweat ran down his back as he saw the doorknob slowly turn...

Time unfroze and the door flung open. Naruto tossed the kunai with as much precision and accuracy as he could muster. The young man who had flung the door open looked surprised for a second before swinging the door back closed real quick to catch the kunai and pushing the door open again.

"What are you trying to do?!" Kiba exclaimed, "Kill me?!"

Naruto, having not noticed yet that it was Kiba, didn't waste any time and used his one good leg to jump off of and tackle himself towards his enemy with his newly mastered one-handed rasengan.

"Rasen-! ...wait, Kiba?!" Naruto shouted in midair before being flabbergasted upon realization of who it was and dissipating his rasengan. Doing this, however did not stop him from tackling Kiba to the floor of the hallway outside the door.

"Who the hell else would it be!" Kiba yelled out in pain and slight irritation at having been attacked.

Naruto took a second to look over Kiba. He was newly bandaged as the top of his head was wrapped in gauze and his arm was resting inside a sling. Upon further inspection he noticed that his hand opposite the one in the sling was bandaged up and in a make-shift cast. Naruto was about to ask where Akamaru was until he popped his head out of Kiba's jacket. The jacket looked worst for the wear; it was shredded with many tear marks, looked like it had been given some poor makeshift patchwork in places, and (most noticeable) the hood that once decorated it was gone.

"Naruto..." Kiba grimaced with a smirk, "get off me right now and quit looking enviously at my sexy body. I'm not gay."

It was at this point that Naruto realized that he and Kiba were on the ground with him standing right over him inspecting him in a very awkward position for any viewer to see.

"I'm not gay!" Naruto yelled bouncing off Kiba red with embarrassment, "Stop saying crap Kiba-teme or I'll kick your ass so hard my foot will get stuck up there!"

"Ha!" Kiba laughed while grinning, "I'm sure that's not the only thing you like to stick up—"

In a comedic turn of events, Naruto tackled Kiba again and the two boys were wrestling with each other like squabbling brothers as Tayuya sat laughing in her bed at the conversation between the two.

"God I wish I could see your fucking face, _sensei_," Tayuya laughed so hard that she toppled out of the bed.

Meanwhile the old man and the doctor were standing at the door watching this sequence of events play out in the hallway with bugged-eyes and slacked jaws at the two delinquents.

"Noooo, boys stop!!! I need to heal you!!!!!!" The doctor exclaimed running wildly toward them all fretting all the way about their condition.

* * *

"So I've got a question, whiskers." Tayuya stated nonchalantly as the doctor sat wrapping the bandages around Naruto. "Exactly how many people did you bring with us this time?"

Naruto blinked before looking over at Kiba who was leaning back in his chair, picking his nose. "Oh yeah, you were asleep so you didn't get to see who tagged along." Naruto laughed while being wary of his words so that the doctor wouldn't become suspicious. "There's supposed to be four of us, but I'm not sure where the other girl is."

"The blonde girl we met near the club that one day?" Tayuya questioned, scratching her finger across her cheek.

"Yeah, her," Naruto said while looking over to Kiba. "I don't suppose you know where she is, eh dog breath?"

Kiba seemed to perk up and flicked his stray bogey aside as the doctor fitted Naruto's leg into a cast. "Haven't seen her since we all split up trying to run away from those wolves." He said as the doctor tutted.

"Nasty creatures, them Tea wolves. You kids are lucky to have gotten away." The doctor said, joining into the conversation consolingly. "Well hopefully you'll find that blonde-haired lassie eh?"

"And hopefully unharmed, unlike us," Naruto smiled kindly making the doctor laugh.

"So dog breath, what made you want to join us on our little adventure?" Tayuya asked with her voice laced in boredom. "Whiskers and I are orphans, so it's kinda natural for us to be moving constantly. What made you change your mind?"

Naruto looked curiously at where this conversation was going and hoped they wouldn't tip off the doctor as to who they were. He couldn't say for certain that they had any wanted posters out, but he sure as hell wasn't going to risk finding out either.

Kiba looked up at the ceiling before finally replying, "I guess it has a lot to do with what you said to me that night on the roof. I want to feel like I'm doing something meaningful with my life. So I decided to explore the world with you guys and get a taste of all the different cultures."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as the doctor finished his cast and walked over to Tayuya, "Nice to have you with us, you mangy fleabag." he laughed patting Kiba on the back.

"Okay seriously, can you stop calling me fleabag and dog breath. It's bugging me." Kiba mouthed with irritation as Naruto ruffled up his spiky hair.

Naruto noticed only a little too late that the doctor was fixing to untie the cloth from around her eyes. He was about to interject when Tayuya grabbed hold of the doctors arms softly, "Just so you know, I'm blind. My eyes got cut out when me and whiskers were attacked by bandits a few years back."

The doctor held a sad look within his eyes, "Well let's take a look at it. Have you had anyone look at it before." Tayuya simply shook her head.

"We're orphans, sir," Naruto replied for her. "and we're young. It's hard for us to get a hold on money."

The doctor nodded as he undid the cloth and began studying Tayuya. Naruto and Kiba decided to stay quiet throughout the doctor's whole procedure until finally the doctor took out some gauze and wrapped it around her eyes.

"It's bad." The doctor replied sighing, "No normal doctor could bring back her sight. A medical ninja would have a better chance, but in all likelihood they'd turn you away at the door. Ninjas look after their own more so than the common folk."

Naruto nodded slightly depressed at the news. "I understand."

* * *

That night, Naruto lay awake in his bed unable to go to sleep. He was kind of surprised he had made it this far. It had been almost a week since they escaped and there were no signs of ninjas, no difference in the old man's behavior, and the doctor didn't seems to know who they were. He didn't want to get his hopes up, but the best case scenario may have actually happened. Maybe they weren't being pursued...or maybe that's what the shinobi wanted him to think. That was more likely now that he thought about it. After the first week or two, they'd expect him to have let his guard down. That was probably when he needed to be most careful.

Naruto had convinced himself that that was what they were planning. He still hadn't found Ino yet, and, as much as he hated to say it, he was more worried about her than the others. Out of the four of them, Ino was by far probably the weakest of the lot of them. He could only hope that her experiences the past several days would increase her willingness to become stronger.

"Ino...I will find you...I promise," Naruto mumbled to himself as he laid his worries to rest for the night.

* * *

The early morning dawned and Naruto swung his backpack over his shoulders and hoisted himself off his bed. He grabbed his crutches and quietly motored his way over to Kiba who was sleeping on the otherside of the room and began prodding him with the crutch.

"Wake up, fleabag!" Naruto prodded hard enough to evoke a groan from Kiba, "We're leaving."

"Wha—" Kiba mumbled sitting up in his bed as Akamaru jumped out from inside his jacket wagging his tail. "Too early, go pick on Red."

Naruto sighed swinging back and forth on his crutches before looking at Akamaru who was wagging his cute little doggy tail, "I'll leave him to you then, okay?"

Akamaru barked affirmatively and began tugging on Kiba's jacket as Naruto swung himself out the door and toward Tayuya's room. Upon knocking he was immediately met with a "come in" response. He opened the door to find Tayuya putting her shirt on over her fully bandaged torso. Naruto felt lucky those bandages were there otherwise he may have flushed red.

"Ready?" He asked quietly as Tayuya felt around for and grabbed her bag before steadily walking over towards the door and reaching out for Naruto's hand. Upon reaching him, Naruto took her hand and guided her near the doorway. He looked over the room, making sure Tayuya hadn't missed any of her personals before hobbling out and closing the door behind him.

Kiba came out of his room looking extremely disgruntled at having to be up this early, but all the same he threw his backpack over his shoulder and grabbed a green apple from the old man's fruit bowl and headed out the door with Naruto and Tayuya following soon after.

They went out by the lake where a thick layer of mist was covering their feet in the early morning as the sun began to peak its way over the first sets of trees. It was a beautiful sight to behold. The three walked out onto the dock (with Naruto helping to guide Tayuya only every so often) where the old man was fishing with his old fishing rod and tackle box.

"Ya leavin' aint'cha?" The old man inquired.

"We've long overstayed our welcome," Naruto replied sorrowfully.

"I figured as much. I packed y'all quite a few things in them bags I bought ya. It's gonna be awfully lonesome being just me and that ole cabin again." The old man said. "You're all welcome back anytime, sonny. Good luck in finding that other bonny lass o' yours."

Naruto nodded, "Will do. Thanks for the backpacks. You really didn't have to."

The old man just waved them off, watching as the blonde boy pulled out a book or something that had what he assumed to be the scent of the other person in their party for the little dog to sniff and trail. He smiled and laughed as the little dog zoomed off in the southern direction causing the three youngsters to chase after him.

He sure hoped those youngsters stayed safe in their travels.

* * *

The forest that the trio wondered into was dense with pine and oak trees that at the minimum were at least ten feet tall all around them. They walked a small and narrow trail that looked to once be a pathway to something, but had since been lost to the wilds of the forest by not being properly taken care of. They were a while away from the cabin by now, so all around them was forest. The ground was covered in roots sticking up out of the ground, pine needles, rocks, and lots of other obstacles much to Tayuya's disliking.

"So how _did_ you meet up with the old man again?" Naruto asked Kiba curiously as they followed Akamaru who continued sniffing down the trail for Ino's scent, "We never really got around to asking you back at the cabin."

"Will you two fucking wait up!" Tayuya yelled in aggravation as she stumbled forward over another random root. "This isn't a fucking picnic for me you know!"

"You'll have to get used to it," The boys both said at the same time causing Tayuya to become even more frustrated. "Just think of it as the next step of your training, Tayuya-san." Naruto replied consolingly.

"Let's see," Kiba thought aloud as Tayuya mumble profanities about the two boys in the background. "There's really not much to that story. I was unconscious on the side of the road and the old man picked me up and carried me into the town for the doc to check up on me. I regained consciousness and was told never to fall asleep with a concussion again."

Naruto blinked as he pushed his crutches forward to keep with Kiba's eyesight, "You were seen in a village?"

Kiba rubbed the back of his head and stopped for Tayuya to catch up, "I'm not sure. I was out of it coming in, but I don't think I really ran into anybody who recognized me going out. The old man said there were a couple of people matching your descriptions back at his cabin so I took a long shot and followed him back out here and here you are."

"Did you notice anythin—FUCK!" Tayuya interjected as she ran head first into a tree in front of her. The boys were trying their best not to laugh, but Tayuya, with an impressive amount of patience on her part, decided to let it go, "Did you notice anything in particular about the village that could give us an idea of where we are?" she asked.

"It was a small fishing village come to think of it," Kiba concluded remembering a bit about the place.

Naruto nodded. "I think we are in Tea Country. The country is renowned for its port-side villages and cities. Plus the doc said something about Tea wolves back at the cabin."

"I remember it too," Tayuya recounted vaguely, re-tightening the cloth on her eyes. "Do you think the old man may have bought us a map that we could look at and put it in one of our bags?"

Immediately, the trio of felons started looking through the belongings that the old man had given them until Kiba shouted approvingly as he pulled out a map from his pack.

"Tayuya, Kiba's got it," Naruto said stopping Tayuya from continuing to search.

"The old man really outdid himself with this map. It shows a lot of different hotspots on the map." Kiba said as Naruto looked over his shoulder. "Here's the old man's house even." he said pointing to the spot marked on the map. "and I'm pretty sure that was the town that me and Akamaru were taken too," he continued as he pointed to a small coastal fishing village just north of the cabin.

"So then if we've been moving south from the cabin we should be..." Naruto whistled as he pointed to an area on the map that crossed the page between the cabin and a place called Degarashi Port. "Somewhere near entering this red rectangle."

"He's written something in the margins here," Kiba examined. "Avoid this area....cannibalistic activity here..." he paled.

"What the fuck does that mean?" Tayuya exclaimed while rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"It means we're going to go around this place and follow the coast to this port." Kiba acknowledged before calling out to Akamaru. "Akamaru! We're going another route, this way!"

Akamaru barked reassuredly before walking deeper into the dark forest thicket and out of sight.

"A-Akamaru?!" Kiba yelled chasing after him. "Come on! Get back here boy!"

Naruto and Tayuya stood there dumbstruck at the display of love between man and man's best friend. In the end, the two decided it was better to wait for him to come back out than venture into the dark thicket as well.

A twig snapped and Tayuya threw a kunai, falling an enemy in a second before walking over to inspect the corpse.

Naruto looked at the man. He seemed to be some sort of tribesman by the looks of him. He wore a handmade tunic made from bamboo and a grass skirt as well as a tribal necklace and an animal mask to cover his face.

Putting those details aside for now, Naruto whistled appreciatively at Tayuya's skills before grinning from ear to ear, "Whoa, that was smooth Tayuya. Lucky you had such a great teacher huh?"

"Shut up! I'm trying to fucking concentrate," Tayuya spoke as she pulled the kunai from the man approvingly. "That's right you bastard. Right in your fucking throat."

A scream came from further in the thicket of woods. For a moment, Naruto and Tayuya expected the worst, that is, until Kiba came running out of the woods with Akamaru right between his legs. He grabbed hold of Naruto and Tayuya and ran as fast as he could dragging the two under his good arm with Naruto barely maintaining to hold onto his crutches.

"Not good! Not good! Not good! Not good!" Kiba yelled before finally stopping on the other side of an enormous oak tree for breath. Naruto groaned before whispering, "You mind telling us what that was all about?"

"I...practically...walked into...the lion's den...back there," Kiba panted before stabilizing his voice. "Treetops connected by rope-ways, houses, it's like a secret civilization in there and we walked right up to the front door!"

"Does Akamaru really think Ino's in there somewhere?" Naruto asked.

Kiba nodded, "Akamaru has a good nose and he's never been wrong before. I'm willing to bet money she's in there somewhere."

Tayuya dusted away the dirt on her legs from being dragged before replying, "You sure we can't just leave her there for them to chew on." Naruto whacked her upside the head. "What? I think it'd be a rather fitting death for her." she stated with an ounce of humor.

Naruto shook his head disapprovingly as he peeked from behind the oak tree. He could see several tribesmen looking at the cannibal Tayuya killed curiously before one grabbed him and dragged him back into the thicket.

"Any plans?" Kiba asked.

Naruto looked around the area and focused on the limited amount of things he had seen thus far. The tribesmen, according to Kiba, lived together under the thicket of trees. They were cannibalistic, but seemed to have a nature to them about not eating their own kind unless death takes them. It was with this idea in his head that he began concocting a very clever plan.

"Diversionary Tactics basics number four," Naruto recited. "Sometimes to infiltrate the enemy you must become the enemy." he smiled.

"English please," Kiba groaned.

"Kill or knock out any three tribesmen around the area and take their clothes. I'm pretty sure that if we can dress up as some of their fellow tribesmen they won't kill us."

"_Pretty_ sure is not very reassuring, Uzumaki" Tayuya stated bluntly.

"Scared?" Kiba smirked.

"In your fucking dreams," Tayuya laughed, "I haven't felt this much excitement since my fight with the shadow freak and the fan bitch."

The two boys sweatdropped at her gung-ho attitude toward this situation, but eventually just let it slide as another side of Tayuya they'd have to get used to.

"Well, let's get started!" Naruto smiled before the three of them split up in separate directions. Mission? Infiltrate the Cannibal's Lair!

* * *

**Author's Note: And there you have it. Ta da! A couple of things I think I should note about this chapter. For one, I don't condone violence toward the blind, but for this chapter I did find it humorous to put in a lot of blind jokes to help fuel me along in the fic. If you think this is crude, I apologize from the bottom of my heart. The way I see it, Tayuya is not one who's going to be asking for help and is trying her best at the moment to not let her blindness become her weakness. Therefore, she tries to do as much as she can without aid.**

**I was really surprised and quite delighted to find many of my old readers are still around and reading my fics and was even more happy at all the new faces that left a REVIEW. That's right, if you haven't guessed it by now I always capslock REVIEW. Because that's a hint at what I'd like for you to do. **

**Anyway, I'm hoping I can get another chapter out during these winter holidays sometime. I hate the process of leaving my readers begging for more and me not having time to update. Especially so since some of my readers actually know me in real life XP.**

**Ch. 7 will be coming soon to a fanfiction site near you. Keep on Reading and Keep on REVIEWING. stilldeluded out!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: I'm back venting out a little stress into my writing. It's sometimes the only thing that keeps me going. Real life is hard. What else is there to say? Hope you enjoy chapter 7.**

"And...Go!"

The shadow clone popped into existence and quickly disposed of four of the cannibal guards in an ambush. The clone then screamed into the darkness, calling out as many cannibals as he could. He then hobbled away as fast as a clone with a broken leg could. In a matter of minutes the cannibals came zooming out of the burrow like a pack of raging Tea wolves at the unknown intruder. Kiba, Tayuya, and Naruto rushed and took the garments from the fallen guards and disguised themselves before walking into the base.

"Who could guess such a simple plan would work huh?" Naruto boasted with pride.

"Congrats on that. You can fool a bunch of idiots." Kiba stated boredly, taking Naruto off his high throne.

"Stupid Kiba-teme taking the mickey out of me," Naruto muttered to himself.

"Anyway," Tayuya sighed, getting the boys back on track. "Our best chance at finding that blonde bitch is to split up."

Naruto nodded. As they walked into the lair their eyes grew wide. Dead bark covered the ground from age and carved a path out like a highway to the giant tree before them. Little huts lined up alongside the tree and expanded upwards. Above were rope bridges connecting to other nearby trees. It was almost awe-inspiring how such a small, primitive society could have such an expansive territory to call home.

"I'll take to the treetops." Naruto smiled eagerly, "Kiba go left and Tayuya right."

With the affirmative orders out of the way, they each split up in their assigned directions.

* * *

Tayuya walked in a slow and haphazardly fashion, stumbling over the random tree roots that seemed to have it out for her with every step that she took. She groaned and muttered curses under her breath. She was beginning to get really frustrated at this whole learning process. She knew that if she blew her cover here that it would alert the whole tribe, but she really was almost to the point of not caring again.

She sat down on the latest root she had stumbled over in aggravation. She knew that she had to learn to live without her eyes, and that they didn't have time to be sitting around. They were all rogues. Stopping for anytime too long would lead to death.

Just as she was about to lose out to her temper, the beginning to a melody began ringing in her ear. It was off in the distance ahead of her. It was a calming and beautiful noise, and without even realizing it, Tayuya had gotten up and began walking in the direction it was coming from. She was focusing solely on the notes as they came out of the instrument.

Her body tensed a little as the melody continued playing, and out of instinct put her hand out in front of her and touched the tree that she very nearly walked into, and then proceeded to step aside from the tree and over the tree root that was sticking out of the ground.

She was asphyxiated to the melody that played so clearly in her mind as it lead her to stand in front of the musician. She stooped down in front of the musician and waited patiently until it ended. She stayed there in front of the musician eagerly waiting for another ballad; her previous anger was long forgotten.

"Kango pa?"

The musician revealed herself to be a part of the tribe, which held no surprise to Tayuya, but all the same put her slightly on guard. Before she knew what was happening, she felt a hand place itself on her cheek and a thumb sliding across the bandage over her eyes. Out of surprise, she jerked away quickly from the musician.

She felt as the musician took her hands with ease and carefully deposited the melodious instrument into her hands.

"Pa."

Tayuya disregarded the musicians cryptic words, and instead brushed her hands up and down the instrument. It was a wooden flute, probably handcrafted by the musician herself. Tayuya slowly brought the flute to her lips and played a single note. Then another and another. The music flowed out of her for the first time in what felt like forever.

As she finished her own song, the musician started clapping and making vocal sounds of happiness. Tayuya allowed a brief smile to glass her lips as she carefully held out the flute once more towards the musician. The musician started playing once more and they sat their taking turns playing songs they knew.

Tayuya needed this moment. Ino would have to wait just a little longer.

* * *

It was an alcove hidden away within the thicket. In order to find it you had to move a piece of growing shrubbery aside. The only reason Kiba noticed it was because he saw someone do so. He looked upon the alcove with vigor. For the alcove seemed to be some sort of holding cell area for future meals. The cages were made from bamboo and were hanging from branches of trees high above, swaying by vines being used as rope over a large crackling fire. Wood-crafted footstools were placed in a circular formation around the fire and many of the tribe were squatting down on them in eager conversation. The best thing he could come up with was to pay them no mind and continue investigating.

Kiba held back the worry that pushed into his thoughts as he looked up and into the cages filled with flesh-barren corpses. Skeletons of men and women forever lost to the world due to an unknown culture's beliefs in a 'dog-eat-dog' survival system. It sickened Kiba to his very core as he gazed into each corpse's empty eye sockets.

As he stood transfixed by the corpses, it came as a startle when he felt a slight tapping on his right shoulder. He shrugged it off quickly and began to back away, but tripped and fell over a footstool. One of the cannibals was now standing over him looking at him curiously. Kiba retained as much calm as he could muster as the cannibalistic man brought his index and middle fingers across Kiba's eyes and nose.

The tribesman drew his hand back to a vine he had tied to his grass skirt and pulled out a big hunk of unappetizing-looking meat and holding it out to Kiba. "Mango sa?"

Kiba looked back and forth between the man and the unknown piece of meat. He slowly shook his head, but the cannibal put the piece of meat under his nose. It was the most wretch-worthy smell that Kiba had ever had the displeasure of smelling in all of his life. It was the smell of freshly burnt, human flesh. Before he could even realize it, Kiba was on all fours holding his nose closed as he wretched out the contents of his stomach.

"Mandosi poka gama ni. Den poko mango sa?"

Kiba, for that brief instant, damned all his plans of blending in with these people. He slapped the meat-stick from the cannibal's grasp and tossed it into the open fire.

His mind still clouded from the extrasensory smell that gained passage to his nasal systems, he looked up only to find the cannibal now staring at him like the devil. Shadows filled the cannibal's body in all the right places as he looked down at Kiba with complete and utter hatred set in his eyes.

The cannibal jumped with raging animosity upon Kiba. He scratched at him with his nails over and over again. He dug a nice-sized scratch down the right side of Kiba's face causing Kiba to yell out and bring his head up breaking the cannibal's nose. In his anger Kiba then tackled himself on top of the cannibal and held him down by applying pressure to his neck with his forearm. The cannibal writhed under his grasp as all the corpses in the cages flashed through Kiba's mind.

And then the cannibal went limp.

Kiba's eyes widened upon realization of what he had done. He watched as the life faded from the cannibal's eyes. His first kill. He didn't even mean to do it. He flopped off the corpse and pushed himself back and away from him. He soon realized that the other onlooking cannibals who had witnessed the fight were howling at his victory.

Kiba couldn't really say he felt the same way. For the first time, he was realizing just how fragile human life was and how easily it could be taken away. His complexion whitened even more so upon wondering how many lives he had slayed when destroying the Hokage Monument. He was frozen in disbelief. His blood had run cold. He just sat there and collected himself piece by piece as he watched the cannibals gather around the man he had killed and began dismembering the body.

* * *

Naruto scaled the treetop bridges and the tree canopies like a monkey. He had to admit that he was incredibly impressed with this tribe's ingenuity. From the wood-crafted items to the Swiss Family Robinson-esque tree houses, it was safe to say that this tribe was a very handy set of individuals.

As Naruto walked across his third rope bridge, he could hear a familiar voice coming from inside one of the nearby huts. Out of curiosity, he looked into the little window carved out of the hut only to rub his eyes in disbelief.

There was Ino decked out in a traditional tribal outfit yelling at a little boy she had sat up on a table. She was speaking to the boy fluently in the tribal people's language. Naruto watched her ever so closely as she slowly grabbed hold of the boy's arm and miraculously healed a deep cut the boy had obtained on his leg.

Ino pulled the young boy up and off of the table before smiling at him, ""Meen Sei. Doku ga dekaf vlodden! Shangoan!"

The boy nodded happily before running out the door. Naruto moved out of the way just in time as the boy ran past him across the bridge. Naruto leaned on the ropeway and dragged his foot along with him before standing in the doorway of Ino's hut. She had her back turned to him and Naruto maneuvered himself up onto the table and waited patiently and with a hint of amusement.

When Ino turned around she gasped and dropped the clay pot she had in her hands. She stood there flabbergasted unable to think up any logical sentence in her head, and Naruto was loving every second of it.

"Nice dress," Naruto stated humorously, but was caught completely off guard as Ino wrapped her hands around him in an embrace that sent him and her both sprawling over the tabletop and onto the hut flooring.

Ino was weeping tears of joy and repeating the phase, "It's really you isn't it? I was so scared," in an incredibly distraught fashion, and although Naruto was overcome with relief that she was okay, he was also feeling a sharp amount of pain.

"Ino. Ino! Ino!!!" Naruto shrilled causing Ino to quit embracing him long enough to look at him with her tear-stained face, "You're on my leg."

"What?" Ino stated confusedly as she sat up, wiping away some of her tears, and inadvertently applying more pressure onto Naruto.

"Leg!!!" Naruto all but yelled at Ino who looked down to realize her mistake.

She jumped up apologizing profusely and helped Naruto up onto the table again and began examining his leg. "What happened to you?! This is fractured all over!"

"Nothing to cushion my fall."

Ino gave him a worried look as she went through the hand signs and pumped her healing chakra into his leg. Relief flooded through Naruto's system as the constant throbbing in his leg dulled down to soreness. After a minute or so, the pain had left completely.

"Wow....Ino...I'm impressed." Naruto smiled in awe of her talents. Ino paid him no mind and continued her healing jutsu. His fractured ribs and overall soreness disappeared at long last and Naruto jumped off the table happily tossing the crutches away.

"So feeling better now?"

"A lot better," Naruto acknowledged as he stretched out his body happily for the first time in over a week. "So how did you learn all this?"

Ino rolled her eyes before tossing him a book from the table, "Remember? I took the medical book. I've been reading it nonstop since that reading session at your house."

Naruto simply nodded at the explanation, "How much have you learned?"

Ino smiled pridefully, "Quite a bit actually. I can heal broken bones, fractured bones, cuts, scrapes, and bruises. I—"

"Could you heal Tayuya's eyes?" Naruto asked with a hint of expectancy.

Ino frowned, "I'm still a greenhorn, Naruto..."

Naruto sighed before holding out his bag to her, "Alright...well we need to get out of here as soon as possible. Pack everything you need and meet me at the entrance."

With a curt nod from Ino, Naruto took his leave to regroup.

* * *

Upon finding Kiba and Tayuya, Naruto quickly guided them toward the exit where the two briefly reunited with Ino. They left the Cannibal's Lair and headed south along the river and still hidden away by the immense greenery of the forest. They decided to make camp for the night near the river. Kiba went about gathering wood for a fire. Naruto figured it would be okay to do so, because the cannibals ritual fires would hide their campsite's fire. Naruto caught fish in the river as they came by. Ino and Tayuya helped set out the sleeping bags.

"Not bad, Uzumaki," Tayuya acknowledged, flopping down beside the roasting fish as she twirled her newly acquired, wooden flute around her fingers. "You did good."

"Why thank you, Red." Naruto grinned, staring into the fire.

Ino sighed in relief as she finished fixing Kiba up and walked over to the makeshift campsite they had established by the riverside.

"So what should we do from here?" Naruto contemplated aloud.

"Fuck if I know, you're the boss here," Tayuya exclaimed irritably as she helped herself to a roasted fish.

"I am?" Naruto blinked, acting as if he had no idea what she was talking about. Tayuya brought her hand up to her forehead, getting a headache from dealing with the blonde boy.

"There's a cave just east of here," Ino commented as she sat down beside Naruto, "We could sit there and lie low for a while."

"I'm afraid to do that too long," Naruto sighed, "It might be good for a night or two at most, but we need to put as much distance away from Konoha as possible."

"I say we head towards one of the port towns and take a boat somewhere." Tayuya offered to the discussion.

"That's stupid." Ino deadpanned, "Where would we go? And we're more likely to get caught in a town."

Naruto scratched beneath his nose, "No, I agree with Tayuya. As long as we're careful we can be there and gone before anyone realizes. For now though, we'll head to the cave Ino mentioned."

Ino sighed out of worry, not at all sure that this was the best call to make.

Tayuya simply nodded and brought her newly acquired flute to her lips and played a tune for the rogues.

"Kiba!" Naruto called out to the unusually quiet member of their party who was sitting off away from all of them. "Can we see the map?"

Kiba tossed the aforementioned item with a flick of his wrist in their general direction.

"You okay?" Naruto asked the dog-loving genin cautiously as he grabbed the map.

Kiba turned to Naruto with an almost feral look in his eyes.

"I'm fine..."

Naruto looked at his friend with unease, but didn't say anything. Instead, he and Ino began looking over the map and began calculating their next move.

Kiba just turned his head back around and looked down at the blood that was buried underneath his fingernails with malice. He clenched his fist until blood came out of his palm and then punched the earth below him in anger. He ignored the curious glances that Naruto and Ino were sending his way as well as the whimpering sounds that Akamaru was making from inside his coat. He then got up and set Akamaru down, ordering him not to follow. He then walked off into the forest for some much needed alone time.

**Author's Note: I know it's short and not up to par with most of my normal writing. If I made a mistake then tell me. I apologize if it feels thrown together. I just couldn't throw a lot of my normal pizazz into my writing. This chapter was giving me serious writer's block so I just told myself to get through it as quick as possible. The state of my mind while writing this was completely lost. If you haven't read Real and Make Believe yet, i highly encourage you to do so. I think I'm going to read it again. For some reason when I read it, my frustrations disappear. Probably because when I wrote it I was bitter. Lol.**

**Same rules as always review and what have you. i'm too tired/stressed/frustrated to even capslock the word review like i normally do. Maybe i'll write another one-shot. I tend to do that when i feel this way. Later all.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: I seem to be getting good at keeping this updated with two new chapters coming out each month. Now if I really wanted to get the ball rolling I would try and get to where I could toss these out each week. Unfortunately, for the moment, I don't have that kind of free time. The unfortunates of a stressing life, I'm afraid. ha ha. **

The warm light of the sun shined brightly over the blonde's eyes, causing him to stir from slumber. He sat up and looked around. The previous nights campfire was nothing more than a smoldering pile of ash. With any luck the wind would blow away the evidence in no time. He looked around to his comrades to find the girls still sleeping soundly in their sleeping bags. Kiba, however, was missing from the group.

Naruto looked around a little until he finally spotted him perched up in a nearby tree. Kiba didn't move a muscle as Naruto hopped up the tree and sat down on the branch above him. He was busying himself by carving out stakes from broken limbs and branches that had got caught in the tree. Naruto sat there waiting for Kiba to acknowledge him and couldn't help being displeased when the man packed his kunai back into the pack and hopped down from the tree without saying a word.

"Kiba," Naruto called out to the man, causing him to stop. "What's wrong? Are you mad at me?"

Kiba paused before finally replying, "I killed someone yesterday," he said uneasily as he shoved his hands into his worn coat pockets, "and who knows how many more people when I destroyed the monument..."

Naruto jumped down from the tree and put himself in front of Kiba to look him in the eyes, "We're ninjas. We all have blood on our hands."

"You don't," Kiba said turning red, "You're the last person that needs to be saying that."

With that Kiba pushed pass Naruto and walked away from the campsite towards where he had set his sleeping bag and began packing up for the day.

"Don't."

Naruto looked over to Tayuya who still looked like she was asleep. Naruto looked down and sighed to himself before he began rolling up his own bag.

"Today is going to be awkward..."

* * *

The party trekked southward through the forest with little words spoken between them. Ino wrinkled her nose at this strange event. As far as she knew nothing had happened. Everyone was getting along well enough last night, and yet their was a strange tension permeating the air. She sighed and looked over the map from last night as Tayuya caught herself from tripping over another tree.

"So I guess we're not going to the cave I mentioned?" Ino spoke up, breaking the silence and causing Naruto to stop.

"No. We're heading straight for Port City. There's no point in stopping again unless we have to."

"Renting a boat under the cover of night. How poetic." Tayuya drawled in an uninterested tone.

Naruto sighed, "I'm going to go on ahead to scope things out. Kiba and Akamaru can track me."

Kiba nodded. Ino looked between the two boys then over to Tayuya. She seemed to pick up that Ino was looking at her and pointed towards Naruto as he rushed off further into the forest. Ino nodded and chased after her fellow blonde.

* * *

"Naruto! Wait up!"

Naruto slowed down in pace to let Ino fall in line with him so they could proceeded together. Once enough distance had been created between Kiba and Tayuya they slowed down and started walking at a more leisurely pace.

"What's going on between you, Kiba, and Tayuya?" Ino finally asked.

"Tayuya has nothing to do with it." Naruto sighed, "Kiba is holding me responsible for his actions thus far."

"What?! That's ridiculous!" Ino bellowed. "He can't hold you responsible for—"

"He has every right to," Naruto cut her off calmly.

"Naruto—"

"This was all my idea." Naruto continued. He stopped and kicked at some nearby mushrooms before leaning against a nearby tree, "I've been selfish this whole time. Only thinking about myself, and because of that I've made my comrades suffer."

"I don't believe that," Ino stated unsympathetically.

"No, it's true. Kiba was forced to kill someone because of me," Naruto revealed, pushing his head back against the tree, "He has every right to be mad at me."

Ino grabbed hold of Naruto and pushed him forcefully up against the tree, "Stop beating yourself up over things that aren't your fault. You didn't force Kiba's hand, and he didn't kill for you. He killed for himself out of self defense, right?!"

Naruto looked at her coldly, "It doesn't matter. If I'm going to lead this group then I have to be responsible for all of our actions and not just my own! That's what a true leader does, Ino!

Ino loosened her grip on Naruto as he continued his speech.

"The road will get a lot harsher the further down we go. We will all be pushed into situations where we will be forced to do things we will regret doing. I've accepted that and will shoulder the responsibility of these actions, Ino."

Ino looked at Naruto differently now. She could never have even guessed at the amount of pressure Naruto must constantly be feeling and the weight of being a leader.

* * *

"You're self-centered and say unnecessary things."

Kiba was only a little surprised by Tayuya's bluntness as they walked on with Akamaru sniffing for Naruto and Ino's trail.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kiba said nonchalantly.

"I overheard your little bitch fit this morning," Tayuya stated as if it were obvious, " you should have heard yourself. 'Oh woe is me! I killed a fucker and all he wanted was to chew on my corpse'," she impersonated.

"If you've got something to say, then say it." Kiba snarled.

"You're a ninja. Act like one."

"Just shut up." Kiba ordered as he walked off ahead of the redhead.

Before he could gather what had even happened, he felt Tayuya tug on the back of his hair and forcefully slam his face into the nearest tree. Kiba grabbed at his nose, which was now bleeding and broken.

"What de heyll was dat for?!" He cried out in pain.

Tayuya disregarded the cry and grabbed him by his tattered jacket and began dragging him with her. "Listen up you little shit. First off, nobody orders me around. Second off, you weren't forced to join this little parade of misfits. If you didn't want to be a criminal or a killer, then you should've stayed home and started raising a garden. News flash, dog breath. Life outside your tattered shit hole isn't fun and games."

"I know dat!"

"Then fucking act like you know it." Tayuya said letting Kiba go. Kiba got up hesitantly as Tayuya continued. "Uzumaki has his own problems to deal with without you having to add your own personal problems to the table. In case you haven't figured it out yet, you're a bunch of genins and I'm fucking blind. We're on the run with no chance of training along the way. We're sitting ducks. Konoha's bitches to kill when they please. The least you could do is show some fucking respect to the guy who's trying to keep our asses safe."

Kiba stood still on the ground contemplating over what Tayuya said. He finally sighed and snapped his nose back to its normal position with a cry of pain. The two then continued following after their blonde compatriots in silence.

* * *

"Seventeen."

The shinobi looked upon him with nothing but sheer terror running through his veins. It was incredibly satisfying to behold. With a twirl of his sword he shaved the final ninja down like butter.

"And eighteen." He chuckled in his raspy, monstrous voice. "Are you satisfied, Samehada?

The blade did not speak, but it didn't need to for its master to understand.

"All this security going after a bunch of foolish brats. It's quite entertaining. Wouldn't you say so, Itachi?"

The swordsman looked over to his silent partner who had stayed out of the fighting to meditate and rest his tired eyes. Upon hearing his name called out, Itachi opened his hollow eyes to look at his partner.

"Are you finished already, Kisame?"

"It never had a chance to begin," The swordsman gloated. "A bunch of chuunin level nobodies were sent after them. I think it was a worse fight than that time with your brother."

Itachi stood up with uncaring disregard and began heading further into the forest. Kisame started to follow him when Itachi raised his hand.

"I'll go alone from here. It's my job to capture the nine-tails after all."

Kisame snorted through his snake-like nose. "That confident, huh?" Itachi made no effort to reply. Kisame sat down and made himself comfortable. "Go ahead then. I'll make sure no other leaf ninjas interfere."

Itachi nodded and zoomed off into the woods.

"Showoff," Kisame sighed.

* * *

The two blondes looked back to see Kiba and Tayuya catching up with them. Naruto and Ino both raised their eyebrows at the sight of Kiba holding his profusely bleeding nose.

"What the hell happened to you!" Ino yelled smacking Kiba upside the head. "Honestly can I not leave you alone for more than five seconds!"

Kiba's eye twitched upwards and Tayuya smirked. Naruto just shook his head before flashing his trademark grin.

Once Kiba's nose was properly fixed they continued their venture until the forest started leading upwards and began to get more mountainous in nature. Grass was subtly replaced by rock and a path soon made its way known the further up they went.

"We _are _still in Tea Country right?" Ino asked as she stopped for breath.

"The land has elevated spots here and there. Keep those cheeks flapping, Miss Priss," Tayuya called back to her.

Ino turned red from embarrassment, "Flapping?! Do they really do that!"

Tayuya laughed and kept on walking leaving the blonde behind her self-conscious.

Once at the top of the hill, Naruto jumped up on one of the big rocks that was there and put his hand over his eyes in a saluting fashion to check out the region around them. They were possibly at one of the highest points in Tea Country. The view was beautiful. They could literally see for miles all around them. The girls were off to the side with Tayuya still teasing Ino much to Naruto's amusement.

"Ino does remember Tayuya's blind right?"

Naruto looked down from his viewpoint to see Kiba leaning against the rock he was on top of looking up at him. Naruto smiled to himself.

"Hard to tell. She hasn't been tripping much today." he observed.

"Guess it hasn't been all that obvious...still...when a blind girl is teasing you about your looks, you can't honestly take it seriously." Kiba said, keeping the conversation going with a hint of awkwardness.

"...We need to keep moving." Naruto sighed, changing topics and hopping down from the rock with renewed purpose.

"I'm sorry."

Naruto turned back to see his fellow male rubbing the back of his head. "It's just hard for me to stay focused on why I'm doing this. One thing goes wrong and I'm biting peoples' heads off for it."

"Hey. I understand." Naruto smiled patting Kiba on the shoulder. "I'm expecting it to get harder from here on. So we should be prepared for anything."

Kiba nodded and the two men bumped fists as a sign of their renewed friendship.

"Aww, how cute."

Naruto and Kiba whirled around in alarm to see Tayuya standing with her arms crossed and smirking, and Ino waving at them both and giggling slightly. Kiba muttered something about pesky girls before rubbing his head and turning away from their sight. Naruto just offered a smile and looked out at the view again.

"Over there you can make out Port City. If we pick up the pace then we should be able to make it there by nightfall. We can take a boat in the night and head out for Wind Country."

Before they could take off down the other side of the hill, Akamaru, who had been abnormally quiet for the longest time now, began sniffing the air and whimpering to himself.

"What's wrong boy?" Kiba asked looking down to his doggy companion. After a moment Kiba's eyes glazed over, "We're being tailed by somebody really strong..."

Naruto looked to Kiba in alarm before immediately coming to a decision, "We need to go now!"

"This is a quaint little group you've thrown together, Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto whirled around to see Itachi Uchiha sitting down on the very rock he had stood on earlier. The wind blew across his cold and calculative face, revealing his sinister red eyes for the entire group to see. Itachi looked interestedly at Tayuya before continuing with his greetings.

"So this girl is the reason you threw your life away?" Itachi inquired with a hint of melancholy.

"So what if it is?!" Naruto growled throwing his question back at the elder Uchiha.

"It makes no difference to me whatsoever, but I do admit to finding you incredibly foolish." Itachi smirked. "You do, after all, have quite the number of enemies already, and now you've added your home to that list as well. The only friends you have left are the ones standing with you right now."

Naruto clenched his fists in anger. He could almost feel the fox ready to lash out inside of him, "I did this because Tayuya didn't deserve death! It was injust! So just shut up!"

"Thirty-three villagers. In case you were wondering, it is the number of innocents your little escapade cost." Itachi spoke casually. "You speak of injustice, but to save one you cost thirty-three. That isn't justice. That's just the cries of a little kid not getting his way with the world."

The Kyuubi's chakra blazed out of Naruto as his looks became feral in nature, "Don't you dare give me a lesson on morals when _you_ killed your entire family!"

"Naruto! Stop!" Ino cried.

Before she could stop him, Naruto hurled himself up towards Itachi with a rasengan forming in his hand. Itachi jumped up from his sitting position and just as Naruto was about to thrust the rasengan into the man's chest, Itachi brought his leg up and sent a swift uppercut to the blonde's chin. As Naruto fell backwards, Kiba, Akamaru, and Tayuya entered a battle formation with Tayuya summoning her creatures from hell to do her bidding and Kiba and Akamaru entering their double teaming, man-beast clone formation.

Kiba and Akamaru used a double wolf-fang fist and destroyed the rock that Itachi was standing on as the three summon creatures surrounded themselves around him. Itachi jumped off the rock and kicked himself off one of the summons and ascended high enough to use his famous fire-style ninjutsu. In an instance, the three summons disappeared in poofs of smoke as they were ingulfed in a massive-sized fireball, and Itachi landed back on solid ground unharmed.

Itachi smiled a little as Kiba and Akamaru attempted to flank him from the side. He jumped up in an impressive acrobatic display to bring each of his feet down against the back of their heads and pushing them headfirst into the ground and unconsciousness. Ino stood there with shock written all over her face. Her hands were shaking from the fear that was coursing through her veins. This was the power of their enemies...the power of the man who killed the entire Uchiha clan...the man her beloved Sasuke wanted to kill above all others...

"Get it together, Yamanaka!" Tayuya yelled at her. Ino refocused on the battle just long enough to see Itachi zoom at Tayuya and kick her legs out from underneath her. Ino watched then in horror as Itachi delivered an elbow to Tayuya's gut causing her to cough up blood before hitting the hard ground and rolling down the hill and out of sight.

"You son of a bitch!" Naruto yelled as he came charging on all fours at the man, who retaliated by delivering a swift backhand to him so that he slid to the ground in front of Ino. Ino hesitantly tried to put a hand on Naruto to see if he was okay, but he immediately slapped it away and went charging at Itachi again. He mass produced over a hundred shadow clones.

"Mangekyou Sharingan."

Ino watched as all the Narutos stopped in midair before poofing out of existence. Naruto fell to the ground twitching in pain and let out a death-defying scream. She dropped her head down in despair.

Footsteps quietly approached her until she could see the cloaked man's feet. "I'm disappointed in you." He said. "You're like so many other ninjas."

Ino looked up into the man's cold red eyes. "You're pathetic and weak."

Ino's eyes grew wide as she stared into the eyes. The last thing she remembered was the eyes turning a different pattern before feeling the pain of a million knives stabbing into her and falling unconscious.

Itachi moved away from her and looked over his handy work before breathing out and looking up to the sky. It was beginning to rain.

"Damn it!"

Itachi looked over to see the spiky-haired jinchuuriki huddled over on hands and knees trying to stand up despite the genjutsu torture he had inflicted on him with his sharingan.

"It wasn't supposed to end like this!" Naruto yelled out to the heavens as his body tried to fight the twitching pains that had been induced upon him, "Why?!"

Itachi walked over and picked up the blonde boy with one hand and brought him up to look in his eyes. "Learn from your weakness, Naruto Uzumaki."

With that Itachi summoned a chakra based crow from out of nowhere and shoved it down Naruto's throat. He coughed and hacked as it entered his body. "What did you do to me?!" he managed to get out.

He watched Itachi look down at him with his sad, cold eyes as the rain fell down from the heavens, soaking them to the marrow. What was that look? What did it mean?

Naruto could not come up with an answer to this question. He could barely make anything out through his obscured vision now...

And everything faded to black...

**And that is another chapter added to the table. Oh the fun of writing pwnage scenes. I can never get enough of it. Leave a review, peeps. See you on the flipside. That's right I just used that old school lingo. Peace.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:**** Yeah, that guy stilldeluded is still around getting into trouble. For the record, I had to do a bit of minor re-editing to some chapters recently. Particularly Chapter 4, however they are so minuscule that they really aren't even worth mentioning. What do I have to say about this chapter? Hmm...well let's just say there are a lot of doors being opened. That's said. Now Enjoy.**

A tingling and wet feeling made itself known to Naruto's cheek as he slowly roused from unconsciousness. He shooed away Akamaru as the dog whimpered slightly and continued to lick him. Finally, the recent events that took place started swimming back to Naruto's mind as he bolted up in a panic looking around for his comrades.

He did not have to look very far for Kiba and Ino, however Tayuya was a different story, after a brief recollection he recounted that she had rolled down the hill after Itachi dealt with her. He brought her back to the top where the others were and carefully placed her down beside Kiba. After checking to make sure everyone was okay, he walked over to the ruined rock now damaged from the fight with Itachi.

Naruto plopped down on its surface in confusion. Itachi had spared their lives? It didn't make any sense to him. He was Itachi's target, right? Itachi had the perfect opportunity. Naruto lifted up his shirt and checked the seal that was on his stomach. It was there as it had always been, and he could still feel the fox's presence abiding within him.

He couldn't fathom why he was still alive. There were thousands of reasons that passed through his mind, but each one seemed more ridiculous then the next.

"What are you thinking?" Naruto contemplated with a hint of aggravation.

Sighing, he decided the best thing to do was set it aside. No use in letting a question drive someone to the brink of madness. A whimpering sound came from Akamaru as he nudged at Kiba with his nose. Naruto looked at the dog sympathetically and hoped his master would wake up soon. The girls as well. For whatever reason, they were being given a second chance at life, and Naruto wasn't one to go about looking a gift horse in the eye.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, he summoned two shadow clones. The three Naruto's then picked up a comrade each and headed down the other side of the mountain hoping to make it to Port City by nightfall.

* * *

"And at long last he returns from the forest. Took you long enough."

Kisame noted that Itachi seemed a lot more tired than what was normal and made a few tutting sounds to his partner.

"You're going to have to start relying on something other than those eyes you know. Unless, you're fond of digging your early grave."

Itachi said nothing. He simply closed his eyes and rested.

"The deed is done then I take it?"

Itachi opened his eyes and looked at his partner with a smirk playing at his face.

"For now..."

* * *

Naruto's clones disappeared with a popping sound as he cut off the jutsu. He set Kiba up against a tree as the clones had done for Tayuya and Ino and climbed up a nearby tree for a vantage point. Port City was within seeing distance, but Naruto felt no need to continue into town while the others were still unconscious. To do so would just draw unnecessary attention onto them. And that was the last thing they needed.

He moaned a little as he looked down at his favorite orange garments. If possible, he needed to replace his favorite jumpsuit with something a little less noticeable. Though it would be much to his disliking. Orange was his favorite color after all.

Below him, Naruto caught the movement of Ino's head moving. He hopped down from the tree and attempted to rouse her with some shaking and gentle words. Her eyes squinched up before finally opening to gaze into his eyes.

"Where are we?" She asked in an unfocused manner.

"Outside the city." Naruto replied. "Kiba and Tayuya are still out of it, but as soon as they wake up we're heading into town. Did you pack enough money for ferry tickets?"

Ino furrowed her brow and shook her head slightly as though to rid herself of a painful headache, "I'm not sure. I think we'll have enough. We won't be left with much after it though."

Naruto sighed and wished they could be doing a bit better for money. It had been nearly a month since the last time he had ramen, and now it seemed he may have to curb his satisfaction for a little while longer.

"Naruto..."

Naruto took his mind off his ramen cravings long enough to refocus it on Ino.

"What's up?"

She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them before burying her face into her knees. "Am I a burden?"

Naruto blinked at the question and sat down beside her. "Of course not. What brought this on?"

Ino moved away from him a little as she spoke while sniffling slightly, "H-He said I was pathetic...and weak. Not even fit to be a ninja!"

As she started crying, Naruto could only think that she was talking about Itachi. As he began to speak, he found he couldn't find the right words to say. He felt so sorry for her. He wrapped an arm around her in comfort and pulled her in close to cry on his shoulder. They sat like that for a good while with her crying and him trying to think of something suitable to say. Finally he spoke.

"You know...when I went on my first real mission, I was assigned to help protect a bridge builder from the Land of Waves. While we were traveling, we got ambushed by some missing-nin. Sasuke and Sakura jumped into action ready to protect their target...but me...I couldn't do anything. I was scared. But I promised myself that I would never panic like that again. In that moment, I became a stronger shinobi."

Ino listened intently holding onto him for dear life.

"I think that if someone says something hurtful to you, you should always try to prove them wrong. If you let their words get to you, then you'll just get lost in a sea of feeling worthless. And that's the worst kind of wound that a person can have. Because it's self-inflicted. Understand?"

Ino sniffed a little and wiped away some of the tears from her eyes. "I'll get stronger...for all our sakes. I swear I will."

Naruto smiled a little smile at her resolve.

"Naruto...you're different from when you were back in the village."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head at Ino's sentiment, "Really? I don't really think I've changed at all...well...I did read a dictionary, but that's besides the point."

Ino whacked his arm good-naturedly.

"Trust me on this." Ino said with a pout before smiling, "I think that it's for the better."

Naruto looked up to the sky as Ino fell back to sleep. He couldn't help feeling happy that he was able to help somebody he cared for. With that blissful thought, Naruto also relinquished himself to slumber.

* * *

The next day, Naruto awoke to the damp feeling of dew on his ankles, and sprung to life instantly as he realized he had fallen asleep. But for how long? He withdrew his hand from around Ino and pushed her head off his shoulder and onto the tree as gently as possible. He hopped up then and began checking around to make sure enemies weren't around.

"Relax."

Naruto whirled around to see Kiba eying him from atop a tree.

"You really owe it to Akamaru. He's been up half the night keeping guard for us." Kiba said as he pet the little dog sitting in his lap.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as he let his worries diminish, "How long have you been up?"

Kiba smirked, "Long enough to see how comfortable you were."

Naruto blushed red at Kiba's implications, "She was distraught last night. I couldn't...I mean...We didn't..."

"Yeah. I don't want any details." Kiba said while stretching a little bit and pushing his hands back to rest his head beneath.

"Stupid Kiba-teme!" Naruto yelled. Just as Naruto was about to jump up to show him who's boss, his legs were kicked out from underneath him by none other than Tayuya. Before he could even realize it, a kunai was pushing against his throat.

"You just got schooled by a blind girl, bitch." Tayuya smirked in triumph as she pulled the kunai away from his throat and gave Naruto a hand up. "Tayuya: 1; Uzumaki: 0."

"Ugh," Naruto groaned dusting himself off, "Whatever, I can still beat you in blackjack."

"What was that?"

"You heard me!"

Kiba raised an eyebrow as the knucklehead and the foul mouth descended into a playful wrestling match with each other that soon looked like it would get out of control. Kiba couldn't help it when he started laughing.

"Ha, but then again it seems like you and Tayuya are the ones that bicker like an old married couple!"

The two stopped their rough-housing and looked up the tree at Kiba before looking to each other and nodding.

"Oh shit." Kiba exclaimed.

Kiba had just enough time to push Akamaru off of him as Tayuya jumped up and roundhouse kicked him out of the tree. Naruto tackled him upon landing and soon the three were in a full scale brawl with each other.

Ino's eyes opened dangerously.

"Is it so much to ask for some beauty sleep?!" She yelled angrily.

The three in question froze with Kiba pulling at Naruto's lip, Naruto pinching Tayuya's nose, and Tayuya's fist against Kiba's cheek. Ino cracked her knuckles dangerously as she approached them all.

"Naruto! Kiba! I'm gonna kick your asses to kingdom come!"

Naruto and Kiba looked horrified at the implications.

"Not again!" They screamed as the scene panned to the sky as dozens of birds flew up from their nests.

* * *

"Honestly guys, you've gotta stop goofing around like this. You even got Tayuya involved in the mess." Ino sighed while rubbing the sleep from underneath her eyes. "Sorry about all that Tayuya, they've always been like this."

"It's alright, Yamanaka, I'm used to it. I just wish that these two would learn to grow up." Tayuya stated rather bluntly.

"You're the one that started it in the first place!" A bruised Kiba and Naruto yelled angrily. Tayuya just smirked and stuck out her tongue. All irritations, however, were put aside as they finally arrived on the outskirts of Port City.

While it was not a bustling metropolis or anything of the sort, Port City did live up to its namesake. It was a well populated area best known for its ports that traveled anywhere and everywhere you wanted to go, assuming of course you had the coin. It had a market district where various items could be purchased and was guarded by a local militia that kept safety secure around and within the city. As long as you didn't bother them, then they wouldn't bother you.

"I think it would be best to split up from here and meet up at the port this evening." Ino said while pulling out three rolls of bills and tossing each of them to Kiba, Tayuya, and Naruto respectfully. "This is some money for the ticket and a little extra. Remember we're taking the last boat out of here, no matter where it's going. So be at the dock around four o'clock."

Tayuya simply pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and gave a thumbs up before walking off.

Kiba sweat dropped. "She's the one we should be worrying about the most."

"Bah. She'll be fine." Naruto smiled. "What's the worst that could go wrong?"

Ino suddenly started doubting it herself. "I'll tail behind her just in case."

Ino walked off after her.

"Well Naruto guess that just leaves you and—"

When Kiba looked around Naruto had already disappeared.

Kiba just shook his head and walked off.

* * *

"I'm looking for something a little less...orange..."

The saleswoman looked Naruto up and down before replying, "I can see that."

Naruto walked behind the woman as she went through the sales racks picking out different arrangements of clothing that she thought might look good on him.

"Honestly, I've never liked the color orange. I think it clashes with everything it's meshed with. The only thing I like about orange is the fruit. Now those my deary are delicious."

Naruto had to bite his tongue at that remark. He instead opted to force a cheerful-looking smile.

"Now why don't you try on some of these things I've picked out for you and we'll see how they look, okay?"

Naruto complied as the lady told him what outfits looked good together and began going through the ringer with him. Sometimes he found clothes he really liked, but when he came out of the dressing room the lady would shake her head and push him back in. After about the sixteenth outfit she tossed aside, he got fed up with her decisions.

"Sir...sir what are you doing?" The saleswoman asked as she heard the ripping of cloth from inside the changing room.

Naruto opened the door and smiled while holding his arms wide open as if he were displaying something special. He wore a very simple outfit. He had on a new pair of brown sandals and a pair of baggy black jeans held up tight by a belt. His torso was covered by a long sleeved black shirt and topped off by a zip-up, gray hoodie. The ripping sound that had been heard earlier was Naruto tearing the sleeves off of the hoodie.

"Well what do you think?" He smirked.

"I think you're paying for that hoodie." The saleswoman deadpanned. "But it suits you, I suppose."

After changing back into his clothes, Naruto pulled out the money necessary and paid for the clothes. He walked out the store and down an alley with his newly acquired items until he met...himself.

"How did it go?" Naruto asked the clone.

"Horrible. The saleswoman made me change clothes nearly a billion times," The clone said. "Still I feel kinda bad about doing this. The money I gave her was a part of the jutsu, so it's just going to disappear from the register once the jutsu is released."

Naruto released the jutsu on the clone and the clone popped out of existence dropping the shopping bags with him. After a quick change and a cutting off of all the shopping tags, Naruto was decked out in his new getup.

"Well that's what I was testing out..."

Naruto sighed. He really didn't like that he was doing this, but he also knew that they needed to conserve as much money as they could. It was just as he had already told himself. They would all be forced to do things they didn't like doing.

As he thought this the girl version of himself came walking up to him and tossed him an item she'd just recently 'purchased'.

"I thought it would suit you. Don't judge me for getting things unnecessarily. Trust me you'll think it's super cool!" She exclaimed perkily as she popped out of existence.

Naruto blinked as he looked down at the long, boxed gift. Upon opening it, his eyes were graced to see a katana in a shiny, black sheath. He unsheathed it long enough to discover two things. It was made from steel and it was very sharp.

"Just what in the world am I going to do with this?! I'm not a swordsman!" Naruto yelled while squinting at the blade. "I knew girls liked to shop unnecessarily, but I didn't expect that the girl version of me would be the same way!"

The blade held no response to his tirade.

Naruto sighed, "Well, I suppose I could find some use for it...Anyway, I have more important things to do while I'm here..."

* * *

"Well you're not hard to find now are you?" Kiba deadpanned.

Naruto slurped up some more noodles from his broth as Kiba entered the local ramen stand. "Hey! Yeah! Come take a seat!"

As Kiba plopped down in the nearest seat, the cook looked like he was about to have a fit.

"Hey you! No animals in the restaurant!" The cook exclaimed pointing irritably to Akamaru, who was hiding in Kiba's shirt.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! He's not an animal," Kiba stated plopping Akamaru down on the stool beside him, "He's a customer. Now you wouldn't deny a customer service now would you?"

Akamaru whimpered.

The cook threw his hands up, "Fine! Fine! Just make sure he don't piss on the seat!"

Kiba ordered a few bowls for him and Akamaru as Naruto ordered his seventh bowl. Kiba's eye twitched at the dishes that Naruto was stacking up.

"Finally decided to ditch the orange did you?" Kiba spoke up conversationally.

Naruto down the last of his sixth bowl before replying, "Finally got rid of that ratty coat huh?"

It was true. Kiba now wore a brand new brown suede coat to replace his old gray coat. Naruto also couldn't help but notice the bandages that were over his cheeks.

"You got the tattoos removed didn't you." Naruto stated more so than asked.

Kiba nodded with a hint of shame. "I didn't like having to, but it's too big a giveaway as to my identity. Those tattoos were marks of my clan. Besides, the way I figure it, they would probably want them removed from me anyway."

Naruto patted Kiba on the back twice as a sign of sympathy. The ramen was served to the three of them until they finally payed the bill and left with bellies full and shames absent. They then headed for the dock as the hour for all of them to meet up drew nearer.

"So did you pick up any information about us while here?" Naruto asked seriously.

Kiba looked at him for a moment before letting out a long sigh, "You're not going to like what I have to say."

"Tell me." Naruto all but commanded.

"Well...at the moment Tayuya has a $45,000.00 bounty placed on her head given to anyone who can deliver her corpse."

"It's not even a dead or alive warrant." Naruto pulsed with anger. "They just want her dead."

"Well what did you expect?" Kiba asked with a frown on his face, "She did take part in the killing of the Third Hokage. It'd probably be a much larger sum if not for her handicap."

"You can continue." Naruto unintentionally glared.

"I have a $20,000.00 bounty on my head and you have a $30,000.00 bounty on yours." Kiba revealed. "We're both to be brought in alive, if possible, for questioning."

"I figured as much, though I did expect the bounties to be a little higher." Naruto thought aloud. "What about Ino?"

Kiba tensed a little bit, "Well, that's the thing, Naruto. She doesn't have a bounty."

"...What?"

"I was curious about it so I asked around a bit..."

"...Well say it." Naruto asked with a mixture of confusion and worry.

Kiba paused and took in a breath, "Sh—"

"There you guys are!"

Naruto and Kiba looked back toward the town to see Ino and Tayuya walking up to them.

"We'll talk later." Naruto stated as Kiba nodded and put on a smile alongside Naruto's own.

"Whoa, you guys are sporting new looks," Ino said slightly astounded.

"Is that so? Fuck. Next thing you know, they'll be able to wash themselves." Tayuya said with amusement as the boys glared at her to no avail.

"What's with the sword, Naruto?" Ino asked curiously. "I didn't think I'd given you enough money for a sword _and_ clothes."

Naruto looked around haphazardly for a quick solution to his problem, "Yeah...well...some girl just came up and tossed it to me, and before I realized what was going on she was gone."

Ino looked at him as though he were an idiot, "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"It's the truth!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Fine, whatever," Ino said rolling her eyes, "I actually got my hands on a world map while I was here. As well as a few more books for us to read. It's actually going to be a long journey by boat from the looks of it.

"Why's that?" Kiba and Naruto asked simultaneously.

"The last boat is on its way to Earth Country." Tayuya stated as if it were an obvious fact.

"The ship is going to pass by Water Country and go completely around Lightning Country and dock at a town near Iwa." Ino told them. "It's actually not a bad place to go since Iwa isn't on friendliest of terms with Konoha."

"Actually, it could be the _worst_ place to go if they are seeking to become 'friendly' again," Tayuya said offhandedly.

"All the same." Ino continued with a bit of miff to her tone, "Tickets are already paid for, and I don't like wasting money once it's spent."

The rogues boarded the ship once it was docked and set out to find their cabin to sit their stuff in. Ino went straight to sleep once she was situated within her nice little cabin. Naruto and Kiba, however, went to the bow of the ship and watched as other passengers got on board. It was interesting to take notice that most of the people coming on board were of a less than reputable standard.

"It would seem there are many distasteful people to make note of while aboard this ship." Naruto spoke aloud.

"Why do you think I suggested this port in the first place?" Tayuya stated as she came out and joined them on deck. "The militia that guards this city is nothing but a joke. It's there to keep trouble from forming in the city, but they could give a rat's ass about the problems of other countries. As long as we don't do anything to them, they feel no need to do anything to us."

"Well it's our advantage, I suppose." Naruto stated, not really happy at the revelation. "Kiba, bring her up to speed on our situation."

Kiba retold his findings to Tayuya with Tayuya taking it all in without interest until the part came up about Ino not having a bounty.

"And this is where I was left hanging." Naruto spoke finally turning his attention back to Kiba.

Kiba clenched his fists a little, "I did a little digging into why Ino doesn't have a bounty..."

"Spit it out!" Tayuya yelled in irritation at Kiba's foreboding.

"They've sentenced Shikaku Nara to death for treason." Kiba said looking up and to Naruto.

Naruto went white as a sheet as he remembered that Ino possessed Shikaku. But how could this have happened? He faced away from Kiba and Tayuya and brought a hand to his mouth to process what he had just learned.

"I'm sorry..."

**Author's Note: Chapter 9 is...quite an array of little plot points isn't it? I digress. What did you think? Let me know. I like the REVIEWS. They maketh the stilldeluded feel happy happy joy joy all around. You want to know why I like reviews? I like the feedback. I'm curious as to what's going through your heads while you're reading my fic. Don't be afraid to state your opinion. Personally I think that there's so much going on this chapter that it's almost too hard to keep track of what's important.**

**So yeah, if you like it, then yay. If you don't, then meh. Either way, REVIEWS of all kinds are appreciated. I'll see you all when Chapter 10 finds its way onto my computer. Until then, I'm hungry. Now where did I put those chips...  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Naruto or anything concerning said franchise. It's all Masashi Kishimoto's. I think that's simple and to the point.**

**Author's Note: Well...hi. I'm back again from falling off the face of the Earth. I'll be the first to tell you that it's a long climb back up. Regarding this chapter...I've been working on this almost since the day I disappeared. Off again. On again. That sort of scenario. Actually if you want to know a little secret, there's like four different chapter 10s and this is the one I finally decided matched up with where I'm wanting the story to go. Lots of different scenarios were played out. I'll probably talk about that a little more in the author's note at the bottom of the page. But anyway, I'm back. JB is rolling out chapter 10 right now! Oh and for clarifications sake JB is not my name. It's what I call this fic. Let's go.  
**

Grogginess overwhelmed Kiba as he awoke at midday. He almost fell back asleep, but was thwarted by Akamaru who had noticed his waking and started whining. He sat up, smacking his head against the top half of the bunk bed. Kiba groaned knowing that this day was already off to a bad start. He got up and emptied Akamaru's bucket out the porthole. It had been a two week journey so far, and Akamaru had been having some terrible cases of motion sickness the whole trip.

He crossed to the bathroom and tossed the bucket under the sink before scrubbing it out and tossing a complementary air freshener inside it. He walked back into the small room and cursed as he stubbed his toe on one of Ino's books.

Definitely not looking like a good day.

Kiba grabbed his jacket off the bed and slipped into it. Akamaru whimpered miserably as he came and rubbed his head up against Kiba's leg. Kiba picked up the little dog and set him in his lap cuddling him sympathetically.

"Shh. Hey, it's okay boy. We'll be off this boat before you know it." Kiba smiled.

The private moment between dog and master was interrupted as Ino stepped into the room. She eyed Kiba with a small smile gracing her face.

"Kiba," She awed, "I never knew you could be so affectionate."

"Yeah, Yeah," Kiba acknowledged while waving off the teasing remark. "By the way, I tripped over another one of your books—"

Ino's eyes widened with fear. "Please tell me you didn't throw it out the window!" she interjected. "Books like these aren't cheap you know!"

"Not this time. Last thing I need is you yelling at me again half the night." he replied offhandedly.

With two to a cabin, it was Kiba's idea that the group split up into co-ed pairings. Kiba just wasn't the type of person who could sleep well knowing that the girls would have to fend for themselves on board a ship full of rogues and miscreants. Naruto immediately chose Tayuya for his roommate before Kiba had a chance to get a word in edgewise. And thus, two weeks later...here he was stuck with Ino as a roommate.

His offhanded remark seemed to cause a stir in Ino, "Well I had every right to yell at you. I'll have you know that—"

Midway through Ino's tirade, Kiba got up and set Akamaru down in Ino's arms.

"Take care of him, doc." Kiba said and with that Kiba shut the door on his way out.

* * *

He perspired heavily as he pushed himself up for the thousandth time. He had began frequenting the weight room every day. There was little else that he could do on the boat. It only took so long before he grew bored of the endless water. The only way of having any fun on board this ship of insanity was training and conversing. And with all the various criminals on board, you were lucky to get more than two words out of anyone.

Finally finishing his training regiment, Kiba unstrapped the chakra weights he had secured around his waist, arms, and ankles. He tossed his jacket over his arm and wiped his sweat from his brow and onto a nearby towel. He nodded his acknowledgment to a few of the guys who he had seen before and left.

* * *

The mess hall was the last place on the ship that Kiba wanted to go. It was the one place that housed the foulest of stenches. The smell of raunchy booze and odorous men. His sensitive nose could barely stand it all. However, it was the only place to get a meal. Kiba didn't really trust the chef all that much. He figured the chef was an ex-convict himself. And on board this ship, everyone wanted to prove themselves by offing a well known bounty. In the span of two weeks on board, the mess hall had already been shaved by at least a third of what it used to be.

Kiba walked over to the seemingly forgotten fruit bowl and picked out an assortment of grapes, bananas, apples, and oranges. As he searched out an empty table, Kiba spotted somebody he knew harassing the bards. As he walked closer he caught a little bit of the end of their conversation.

"Hey what do you think you're doing, bitch? My mother gave me that flute!"

"Like I care! I'm fucking blind and I can play this shit better than you! I'm going to show you how to play this fucking instrument!"

Kiba watched with slight embarrassment as Tayuya and the bard struggled over the flute. He turned and walked away from it all pretending he had no clue who she was.

He sat down at a table and the waitress quickly came to take his drink order. To Kiba's annoyance, the men behind him started snickering when he put in an order for a glass of milk. Not that he really cared what these lowlifes thought about him. Albeit, Kiba felt a bit hypocritical calling them lowlifes when he could technically be called one of them himself.

The door to the mess hall burst open violently as the waitress put down the cup of milk on Kiba's table. Kiba looked up from peeling his orange long enough to see a big burly man with dark skin come billowing past his table. He turned and watched the man as he confronted the table behind him. The dark man picked up the table and sent it flying by Kiba and crashing into the back of a man sitting at the bar. Kiba watched with momentary shock as the dark-skinned man picked the man up by his neck.

"You cheated me out of some money earlier, you little weasel!" the dark-skinned man stated dangerously for everybody to hear.

"I-It was an honest mistake, Stroder! I swear! I-I thought—" The man coughed, strangling under the dark man's grip.

"That's enough out of you!" The dark man yelled with a tone of finality. Kiba had the good grace to close his eyes as Stroder impaled the man's head upon his own seat. Stroder then pulled the seat up to Kiba's table and sat down heavily. Everyone in the room was quiet...save one person...

"What the fuck did I just miss?" Tayuya blared through the microphone on the bard's stage before holding her ears closed. "Oh shit! That's too fucking loud! Who's controlling the damn mic up here?"

Kiba rubbed his eyes momentarily at Tayuya's obliviousness, but secretly he thanked her for taking the edge out of the event. That is, until he realized that the dark man was still seated at his table with a corpse impaled on the back of his seat.

"Ah shit! Forgot to ask the bastard where he stashed my money. And his blood splattered all over my good shirt!" Stroder exclaimed irritably before signaling the waitress over to him. "Gimme a beer now, Tits!"

Kiba just couldn't help staring at this man. He was crude, ruthless, and barbaric. He was actually joking about the man's life before going on to insult a woman to her face. Deep down, it infuriated Kiba, but he willed himself to stay calm. The last thing he wanted to do was cause a bigger scene. The man finally seemed to notice he was staring at him.

"Name's Stroder," the man finally introduced himself, "You're that rogue from the Inuzuka Clan, right? Dude. Respect. That shit you guys pulled in Fire Country was ballsy man."

It left a bad taste in Kiba's mouth to know that there were people in the world who actually respected him for his crimes. Kiba stared inadvertently at the corpse dangling on the edge of Stroder's seat.

"Could you do something about him." Kiba asked pointing at the dead man. "He's ruining my meal."

Stroder ripped the man off the chair without a second thought and tossed him uncaringly over his shoulder. As he did this, the bards started playing a song to settle the tension that had been building up in the room. Kiba watched Stroder hesitantly as the man pointed out Tayuya on stage playing a flute.

"I saw her picture in the paper alongside yours and the blonde guy's." Stroder smirked. "Got to admit, if I had a chance to save that piece of ass..." His voice trailed off as he stared fixatedly at Tayuya with lust-filled eyes. Kiba regarded him dangerously, which the man either took no notice to or just didn't care.

"She keeps things interesting in the group." Kiba replied noncommittally to the man's overbearing lecherousness.

"I'll bet she does." Stroder replied as he licked his lips, admiring Tayuya. When he turned back to see Kiba's face he felt the need to clear up the misunderstanding, "Oh don't get me wrong. I'm not interested. I just think it'd be fun to break her. You see, I love to see the fear and acceptance a woman's eyes give off as they roll into the back of their head from the pleasure I force upon them. Just thinking about it is enough to make me go wild."

"...To each his own." Kiba muttered while glaring at the man.

The man laughed and patted Kiba on the shoulder, which Kiba immediately shrugged it off. "Well my dear friend, what other way is there to fuck a woman? It's no fun for them to just sit there and take it. You've gotta force it on them! Force it until they're nothing but fucked up little whores on the street corner. They can't say it's rape once they're begging you for it, am I right?"

Before he realized what he was doing, Kiba got up, picked up his chair, and smashed it across Stroder's face with a sickening crack. The bards grew deftly quiet and the conversing amongst patrons died in an instant. Stroder had a smug look on his face as blood began dripping down the left side of his face.

"You've got a lot of nerve you little—"

Stroder's breath caught inside his throat as blood slowly began leaking from his mouth. As his vision began to blur, he saw Kiba with the most vicious and feral of looks upon his face that he had ever known. A true devil in disguise. Stroder looked down long enough to see that Kiba's hand had pierced through his heart like a knife.

"You're just a rabid dog that needs to be put down." Kiba replied angrily while looking down on the older man. "Die knowing you deserved much worse."

Stroder made no reply to Kiba's comments as his eyes turned lifeless. Kiba closed Stroder's eyes, not out of respect, but because he was tired of its lecherous gaze. He felt tired as he realized that this was the second person he'd ever killed. He sighed, only shaking slightly as he ripped his hand from Stroder's chest, letting the corpse flop back in its seat.

"Listen up fuckers!" Tayuya spoke out through the mic, turning everyone's attention back over to her. "Let that be a lesson to all of you. Anyone who fucks with my gang is dead."

As she said this, whispers filled the room in an instant. Tayuya hopped down from the stage and made her way toward Kiba who had just finished drinking his milk and collecting the fruit he had yet to eat.

"So since when is this your gang?" Kiba questioned her.

"Everyone thinks I'm the leader since my bounty's highest, and it's too big a pain to correct them." Tayuya replied scratching her head with the flute from her earlier debacle.

"You know you're stealing that guy's flute right?" Kiba asked as he juggled to keep hold of all his fruit as Tayuya dragged him out of the mess hall.

"Like he could fucking play it anyway."

Kiba just rolled his eyes before staring down at his blood covered hand. "...I need to find a sink..."

* * *

Tayuya had begun playing a comforting melody as Kiba peered out onto the endless ocean. The soft crashing of the waves against the boat, the comforting gust across his face, and the sweet lyrics being played all helped to ease away the nerves that had settled inside him from earlier. As Tayuya finished off the song, she pocketed the flute, crossed her legs, and leaned her head up against the mast in a state of calm serenity.

"I've noticed you're not bitching an emo fit." Tayuya stated suddenly out of the blue.

Kiba had to think for a second about what she was talking about before replying, "I love animals, but there comes a time when an animal needs to be put down. If I think of them like this, killing people such as Stroder or that cannibal become a little less unsettling."

"So they're animals and not people." Tayuya chuckled amusedly. "So what will you do if you are ever forced to fight someone you cannot see as an animal?"

"I'll gladly die."

Silence fell upon the conversation and any hint of a humorous banter between compatriots dissipated. Even Tayuya could tell that he'd turned his back to her. She wanted to make some sort of remark to this dumbass comeback, but her mouth didn't seem to want to cooperate with her. And so the statement hung between them.

"So where have you and Naruto been hiding?" Kiba asked interrupting the silence. "It's been two weeks since we left port, but I haven't seen either of you until today."

Tayuya smirked at his attempt to change subjects. "As fate would have it, he found a swordsman below deck so he's trying to learn how to use that fucking thing." She sighed sleepily. "He's a piece of shit at it though."

Kiba waited for her to continue, however she did not.

"And what about you? What have you been doing?" Kiba pressed on.

"If I had any intention of telling you, I'd fucking tell you." Tayuya deadpanned. "I don't. So that's that."

Kiba growled at her uncanny ability to get under his skin. Tayuya looked away from him in the direction of the stairwell leading below deck. Kiba followed her gaze long enough to see Naruto walk up the stairs.

"Hey, there you guys are! I've been looking all over for you two!" Naruto shouted out while waving at them.

"Finally got tired of being a piece of shit swordsman?" Tayuya smirked.

"Pff. No. I'll have you know I've been working really hard at this!" Naruto groaned as he plopped down beside them with the sword balancing on his shoulder.

"Yeah, but you're still a piece of shit." Tayuya replied to which Naruto brushed her off uncaringly.

"By the way, I ran into some dude in the hall just now." Naruto said switching topics. "I tried to say hello, but the guy ran off screaming about a member of the triad. Know anything about it?"

Kiba snorted. "The Triad? Is that what they're calling us? Doesn't really fit us since there's a fourth member."

"We could just kill her. Saves us from having to tell her about what's-his-face." Tayuya stated boredly.

"Which brings us back to _that._" Kiba continued. "When are you going to tell Ino about Shikamaru's dad?"

Naruto looked away before lying down next to Tayuya and rubbing his eyes. "I don't know how to even begin to start that conversation." He sighed. "Every time I begin to think about it—"

"So don't think about it." Tayuya interrrupted. "If you get hung up in the problem, you're more likely to never get out of it. Just tell her and let it all play out. If she decides to leave us, that's fine. If she don't, whatever."

"Not to mention that with as much crap as she's been reading lately, it's going to be hard keeping a newspaper out of her hands. She's going to find out eventually, and we can't keep acting like we don't know anything. You can only avoid her for so long, Naruto." Kiba said to ease the blonde's worries which only caused Naruto and Tayuya to look at Kiba slack-jawed.

"What?" Kiba asked uncertainly. "Oh come on! I can say something smart every once in a while can't I?"

"But it's you..." Naruto muttered momentarily stunned.

"Like you're one to talk!" Kiba yelled comically at Naruto.

Naruto looked down for a second before looking back up and nodding goofily to his other two team members. "Well, I'm flying by the seat of my britches on this one, guys. Wish me luck!"

And with all the subtlety of a bullet train he vamoosed down the stairwell leading to the cabins. As soon as he was out of sight, Kiba and Tayuya admitted aloud their opinion of the upcoming drama soon to unfold.

"...He's screwed."

"...So fucked."

**Author's Note:**** I'm pretty sure I already updated this to an M rating, right? If I didn't I should. Anyway, let me just start by saying this chapter has been hell in a hand basket. I feel like I had to pull in the reigns just a little bit to keep some parts of this from becoming too grotesque. Like I said earlier, there are like 4 different chapter 10s that have been made. In some of them Stroder was made out to be a lot more vicious and blunt about his methods of intercourse. So to some extent, the Stroder that I eventually settled on using is very PG-esque compared to what I had in mind for him beforehand. At one point, I kind of had him stalking Ino with Kiba doing his best to protect her. While it would have been more dramatic...it's neither the time nor the place for drama such as that to come flying in out of nowhere. **

**Which brings me to something else.**

**The conversation between Naruto and Ino over Shikaku. I'm thinking about simply summarizing the aftermath of it in Chapter 11. I'm wanting to get the ball rolling with this fic and, to me, this exchange will only seem fillerish because it's basically just me repeating everything that was already stated at the end of Chapter 9. What I will say though is that if I feel it is necessary, I will write it into Chapter 11. But for now, it's not really at the forefront of my mind to do so. You may also express your opinions about this by reviewing.**

**Anyway, it's that time again where you start REVIEWING like crazy. I've enjoyed most if not all of my reviews so far. I don't know if any of my old reviewers will still be around to review or not, but I do thank all you who have/will reviewed/review for taking the time to do so. Believe it or not, even after all these months. I still appreciate my readers. So with all that said and done. I hope to see you all when Chapter 11 makes it's way to this website. Hopefully it's sooner rather than later, huh?  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: So...Miss me? I don't really have an excuse elaborate enough to explain away my...missingness. That's not a word, but it sounds fun so I'm keeping it. This chapter wasn't something god awful to write, but, once again, like with the last chapter, I wrote and rewrote this chapter and was never fully satisfied. Got aggravated. Took a nice long break from it. Came back and suddenly it felt like gold. So here it is of course. I'm getting a lot pickier with my writing. Is that natural? I've read a few things that said it is. Those same books also said that it's natural to hate your own work. And sometimes, I really do hate what I'm writing. Thus the recently long updates I suppose. Don't worry though. I'm still excited for this fic. It'll get done. One way or another.**

**So enough of my normal ramblings.  
**

Naruto paced back and forth in front of Ino's room exasperatedly. He was _this_ close to knocking on the door, but every time he got up the nerve to approach the door, he stopped mid-swing of knocking. He butted his head against the wall. This was so _stupid_!

"Naruto...?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the look Ino was giving him from the doorway.

"Was that you knocking on the wall?" Ino asked good-naturedly while pointing between Naruto and the wall.

Naruto glared at the wall for not being soundproof before immediately turning to answer his fellow blonde. "Do you have a minute?"

Ino's brow furrowed giving Naruto a feeling that she had picked up on the sensitivity of the issue soon to follow. "Sure..."

He walked in the room, plopped down on Kiba's bed, and started giving Akamaru a belly rub to help ease his growing tension. In response, the dog hacked up a large mass of who-knows-what all over the bed.

"Yeah, I know how you feel," Naruto muttered to himself thinking nothing of the regurgitation as Ino closed the door and fixed her gaze on the two.

"Ugh! Akamaru!" Ino scolded irritably, "Just look at the mess you've made. He's been like this pretty much the whole trip. I didn't once think about the _dog_ getting seasick!"

Naruto didn't comment. If anything, he gripped the newspaper detailing their recent exploits a little tighter. Ino picked up the poor, sick pooch, bringing him over to the sink to wash some of the mess from his fur. Naruto watched her nervously for a good few minutes as she soaked a wash cloth and cleaned up the slop on the bed.

"Ino...Ino we need to talk."

He could already see it. She locked eyes with him, and her face slowly started showing hints of concern. He tightened his grip on the newspaper and steeled himself for what could very well be the hardest conversation of his life.

* * *

In the village of Konoha, the Hokage, Tsunade, sat in the meeting room with a tired look in her eyes, which was mirrored by all her fellow ninja that were present.

"We can't possibly be considering going through with this?" Inoichi Yamanaka slammed his hands down on the table. His anger getting the better of him. "There is proof that my...my..." he briefly paused to get his bearings, "A mind possession jutsu was used on Shikaku! There is no justification in going through with this execution!"

"We don't have much choice in the matter," Kakashi sighed, "Although we know that Shikaku was not in control of his actions..." He paused as Inoichi cupped his face with his hands, obviously thinking about his daughter. "...we cannot so easily explain that to those who witnessed him aid in the kids' escape. Even if we did, who would believe that a young genin could get the better of one of Konoha's smartest jounin?"

"If I may, Hatake-san," Hiashi Hyuuga politely jumped in, "...This matter is unbearably reminiscent of the incident involving the Cloud Village and Hyuuga Clan several years back. By revoking his sentence, the villagers' loyalty to the Leaf would dwindle. It may even start an uprising."

"Can you blame them?" Kurenai Yuuhi stated soundly. "Thirty-three people were killed, and even more injured in that landslide. The villagers need an outlet. Even now, you can see the effects prolonging the execution has had. The entire Nara Clan is experiencing a fall from grace that hasn't been heard of since the days of White Fang."

The room fell silent for a second as each person thought about the events in the past two weeks.

"It goes without saying that the village has been left with a sticky situation to clean up." Tsunade finally spoke. "At this point, providing evidence that a Yamanaka was at fault would only bring another of Konoha's clans into this affair. It would not be in our best interest to do that..."

Although everyone in the room agreed with what had to be done, that did not discourage the feelings of grief, anger, and humility that flowed around the room like wildfire.

"The damage to the Nara Clan has been done." Tsunade continued. "It cannot be reconciled at this time. Even if truth behind the incident were to get out, the trust the villagers once had in the Nara's would not be so easily regained. Bringing the Yamanaka's into this would only do more harm than good, and I also fear doing so would eventually bring negative disposition toward the Akimichi Clan by association."

Tsunade crossed her arms and closed her eyes to relieve some of the undue stress that had been pushed upon her. "All in favor..."

One by one, a majority of the hands in the room begrudgingly went up. Each man and woman present knowing, as adults, that this vote was being forced upon them for the good of the village as a whole.

Tsunade sighed with disappointment as the weight of this responsibility burdened her further, "Very well. With that done we will move on to more pressing matters. What are we going to do about Uzumaki Naruto..."

She was going to need a nice bottle of sake when this was over.

* * *

They sat in awkward silence. Ino's eyes were unfocused as she processed the weight of her actions. Naruto looked down. He couldn't stand the sight of her inner turmoil. He twiddled his thumbs, slowly becoming uncomfortable with the silence. Then, suddenly, she shook her head slightly and stood. Naruto watched her cautiously as she walked over to the pile of books that were on the ground and started fingering through them.

Eventually she found the book she was looking for and pulled out an old photo she had been using as a bookmark. In the picture, the Ino-Shika-Cho formation of past and present stood posing in a humorous fashion. The three dads stood in the back with heroic poses while their children stood in front of them. Ino stood in the middle pulling Shikamaru's ear so he'd look at the camera while holding Chouji's potato chips in her other hand out of his grasp so he wouldn't be eating during the picture. Chouji wasn't looking at the camera he instead had opted to focusing on the potato chips in Ino's hands, and Shikamaru looked to be in pain from having his ear pulled as his normally droopy eyes were wide open and he was gritting his teeth.

"Ino...you okay..." Naruto asked carefully.

"Just leave me alone, Naruto." Ino replied with a lifeless tone.

He had never heard her like this. Like she was dead inside. Naruto felt an incessant need to help her right that second, but he knew that if he said anything it would cause her to explode. She was on the verge of self-destruction.

"Alright...well...I'll be around if you need to talk about it. Kiba and Tayuya too...well Kiba...don't go to Tayuya. I'm scared of what she might say."

Ino didn't laugh at his attempted joke. Naruto stood up from the bed, he took a minute to collect himself again, he then put the newspaper on the coffee stand.

"I'll put the news article over here so you can read it when you're ready..." Naruto stated as his heart broke seeing Ino in such a state, "Ino...I don't really know what to say in these situations...but—"

"—Just Go!" She yelled angrily as she made to throw a book in his direction, but Naruto was out the door before the book left her hand.

And thus, with a very heavy heart, Ino Yamanaka began the grieving process.

* * *

Naruto sighed miserably to himself. Why was it that every time one of his friends were going through something, he seemed unable to do anything to help them? Sakura...Sasuke...Tayuya...Kiba...Ino...every single one of them had needed his help, but when the time came he couldn't do anything.

"Is there a problem, spry one?"

He looked up to see a swordsman he had befriended for the duration of the boat ride. He was an elderly monk dressed in haggard grey robes with a gentle personality. But appearances could be incredibly deceiving, as Naruto discovered that the old man was not so feeble as he liked to let on. He was a talented swordsman, but he was an even better teacher. It was this man that had been giving him lessons in swordsmanship.

"It's nothing really," Naruto told his elder, shaking his head as if to wave him off. The old man did not move and Naruto suddenly found himself talking. "It's just...I try so hard to be there for everyone, and I can't seem to connect with them when I really need to. I'm trying to get strong as fast as I can, but we're being pursued relentlessly. I'm just...tired...and stressed...and aggravated."

"Have you considered that maybe you're trying too hard?"

Naruto looked up to his swordsmanship trainer questioningly.

"It seems to me that you are trying to shoulder your allies' burdens for them. Slashing at things that are not yours to cut. There are such things as personal challenges that one must learn to overcome alone. From what I have gathered, this seems like one of those cases."

"But what if you're the one that's responsible for their burdens in the first place?" Naruto asked feeling a strong sense of guilt at having gotten Kiba and Ino mixed up in all of this. He, after all, was the one that ushered them into this escapade.

"As much as it may seem to be your fault, it was they who decided to join you. They may regret it somewhere down the road, but there is little that they can do about it now. They are just as much an enemy to their country as you are." The old man stated wisely.

Naruto feinted a smile for the attempt to cheer him up, but having heard that he felt just a tad melancholic. He had constantly been telling himself that there was no turning back, but to actually hear it being confirmed back to him made something unravel inside his head. There really was no turning back. It was frightening. And yet, he couldn't help a small part of him that was excited.

"I guess I'll treat each day like it's a new adventure and hope that everything works out for me." Naruto said looking up at the old man. "Thanks for the pep talk Kuruiyetsu-sensei."

"Pleasure was all mine. I look forward to reading what sort of trouble you and your group get into." The old man smiled. "Perhaps we'll meet some other time."

As Kuruiyetsu walked off, Naruto couldn't help feeling rejuvenated. For the first time since this journey began, he wasn't feeling stressed to train or escape or fix problems. He actually felt really good. At ease. He hoped that this feeling would stick around for a good long while.

* * *

"I-It's a devil!"

"A-A monster!"

Her gazeless eyes pierced the men harder than any stare could ever give as she swung her hand in a circular motion, popping her shoulder repeatedly. Tayuya pushed the hair out of her face and over her horns as she grinned maliciously at the tragedy she would soon create.

"For grown men, you all blubber like children. So pathetic."

She yawned as the men around her began screaming. They each grabbed hold of their heads in agony. One after another, and in a minute's time they began bleeding from their ears. Soon after, they all crumpled to the floor.

Tayuya scowled, "How the fuck am I supposed to gauge myself if everyone keeps dieing at the first genjutsu. This sucks. I need a real fight."

Unfortunately for Tayuya, not many people on board were crazy enough to mess with her. Those that did...well, they died. And now, she had revealed a demonic side of her that no one knew existed. Anybody still left on the boat would be downright terrified of her now.

Her ears perked up as the footsteps of Uzumaki Naruto rounded the corner. He looked at her for a good solid minute in utter confusion.

"Is that you, Tayuya?" Naruto asked, scratching his head as he looked at her cursed seal form for the first time. "Nice tan...Horns! You've got horns!"

Tayuya held back the sudden urge to smash her head against the wall and join her victims.

She reverted from her cursed state irritably as Naruto's jaw dropped and eyes widened.

"That was so cool!"

"You're just easy to impress." Tayuya yawned to avoid smiling at the compliment. "You gonna berate me now, or what?"

Upon hearing that, Naruto noticed all the dead people surrounding her. His jaw dropped again and he started pointing his finger at her excessively. "I thought I told you to stop killing everyone! What's it going to look like when only six people walk off the boat?"

"Six?"

"Me, You, Kiba, Ino, Kuruiyetsu-sensei, and the captain! You can't kill the captain, Tayuya, or else we'll get lost at sea!"

Tayuya rubbed the back of her head and started walking back to their room pretending as though he didn't exist. She opened the door to their cabin and followed him inside before collapsing on her bunk bed.

"So how'd it go with Yamanaka," she asked in an attempt to make small talk.

Naruto shrugged, "It is what it is. I've decided I'm not going to worry about it. She'll come around."

She could tell by the tone of his voice that he _was _actually bothered by it, but for whatever reason he had decided not to trouble her with the details. Which suited Tayuya just fine.

"So many people on this boat think I'm the leader of our group." Tayuya said, effectively changing the subject. "Better be careful, Uzumaki, or I might take over."

"No way! You wouldn't last a day in my shoes." Naruto grinned.

Tayuya snorted at that. She felt around for where she left her bandages and begun retying them around her empty sockets. She turned her attention to Uzumaki and crossed her arms to show that she was serious.

"The boat will be docking soon. What's our plan?"

Naruto looked at her and suddenly wiped the goofy smile from his face. "We're going to have to go under the radar for a while."

"No shit."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "When we dock, the first thing I want to do is find a place and create a hideout. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. Just an apartment of some sort."

"Whoa! Are you wanting to have the hideout in a town? That's fucking insane!" Tayuya protested. "We need a cave or an abandoned shack in the middle of nowhere. Operating in a city is just begging for us to get caught!"

"Then we won't get caught." Naruto exasperated. "From what I've read, ninjas tend to stick close to the compounds. If there are any ninja living in the town, then we'll just find a place where they don't frequently patrol. Besides, they won't find us unless they're really trying to look for us. We have more to fear from the Leaf Village than anyone else. And besides, what ninja would expect us to be waltzing around in their village in plain sight? They'll be more likely to second guess themselves even if we are spotted."

Tayuya juggled the idea around her head. On the forefront, it was a really clever idea, but even she knew that plans like this could be messed up easily. She'd have to put her stealth abilities to the test. They all would. And that worried her slightly. She wouldn't have too many problems, but a bunch of loud-mouthed genins...the thought was a little unsettling.

"Are you sure you're gonna be up for this, Uzumaki?"

Naruto smiled goofily once again, "I have a knack for learning things when it's necessary."

She let a small smile grace her lips for a split second. She shook her head slightly. Naruto Uzumaki was one crazy kid.

"Alright. Then, for now at least, I will follow you."

"Awesome. Now I'm starving!" Naruto declared. "Do you think I can persuade the cook to fix ramen?"

And just like that, Uzumaki went back to being annoying.

**It's a setup chapter, but we're finally getting off this boat. Thank goodness. It was starting to get a little cramped on there. Kiba was completely absent from this chapter. Don't really have a reason for that other than it just didn't feel necessary for this chapter. He's off doing whatever it is he does in his spare time. It actually works out alright considering last chapter was completely Kiba-centric and this chapter focuses on the other three.**

**Chapter 12 will come out when it comes out. Hopefully anywhere between a week to a month from now, but knowing me, you probably shouldn't hold me to that. You never know though. Sometimes the smallest things will pick me up and get me back to writing. My most recent review from Frerardlover was so sweet that I actually got the vitality I needed to get out of the aggravated hole that this fic tends to toss me in. And thus you have your chapter. So reviews do actually help hasten my writing process. Or so it seems anyway.**

**With all that being said, til next time readers. I love your faces. Though I've never seen them. Whatever.  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: stilldeluded's back already? Really? I was, at the very least, expecting to see him six months from now. But five days after his last update? That's a freaking record! Well nearly. I think I got Chapter's 5 and 6 out back to back in a day's time. But still this is pretty awesome for me.**

**I can't say I'm surprised that a lot of my reviewer's have disappeared over time, but what I can say is that the reviews I got for my last chapter were some real quality reviews. I was absolutely flattered. Thank you all. I also feel the need to give a special shout out to the reviewer CelticReaper. Despite my random disappearances for long periods of time, you've been one of my biggest reviewers since Day 1 for this fic (literally day one). In fact, you were the very first reviewer for this fic. So this is me saying thank you for having the willpower to endure my disappearances and continually reading and reviewing. It really is appreciated.  
**

**That's all I really need to say at the moment. It's the start of a new arc, which means it's scary territory for me as the author. So here's to hoping you like it. Read on, readers.**

**FOR ALL FELLOW AUTHORS: As you probably know by now, fanfiction is having technical difficulties with a portion of their site when it comes to uploading new content. In the url, there is a portion that says "property". Delete that word and replace it with the word "content" in the url. And there you go! That will take you to the place where you can add new chapters or replace old chapters for your story. This does work as this chapter would not be out right now if it didn't. I hope that was clear.**

The city of Avel. A large city on the coast of Earth Country. At the base of the distinctive mountains of Iwa. A city built around nature. Whether it be the ocean to the East or the mountains to the North and West, you could find trees and flowers of all shapes and sizes as they came to bloom. Avel was Iwa's pride. A beautiful and natural place. A paradise.

Overlooking the city, atop the bluff, was a beautiful three-story home. It had a yard filled with a wide variety of beautiful flowers. A lone man walked around with his watering can, doing his daily gardening. As he finished up, he took off his hat and wiped his brow at the work he'd done. He was pleased with his accomplishment.

The man walked over to his gazebo and stared down at the beautiful city. The city of Avel. He frowned slightly at the sight and sighed.

"This...is my city..."

* * *

Kiba's joints ached this morning. After a more intense workout session than his usual, he came back to his room to find that Ino had shut herself in. Which, in turn, forced Kiba to spend his night sleeping at a table down in the mess hall. He woke up early due to the discomfort only to find a pickpocket casually attempting to loot his coat pockets. He knocked him unconscious without giving it much thought and left the mess hall yawning and irritable. Suffice it to say, it was his right to be in a grouchy mood.

He made his way up on deck to feel the refreshing sea breeze in hopes it would wake him up a little more from that abysmal night's sleep. But today was odd. Instead of the endless blue sea that normally greeted him, there was something else in the distance to greet his day. It almost looked like...land. He thought his eyes must be playing tricks on him, but then he realized...Today was the ship's estimated date of arrival!

He jumped for joy at the sight of it, and ran off to tell Naruto and Tayuya at breakneck speed. He all but smashed the door down to their room in his excitement.

At the sound of the door smashing off its hinges, Naruto jerked up and smacked his head against the top of the bunk bed as Tayuya freaked out, rolled off her bed, and slammed her head on the bottom bunk on the way down.

"Guys! You can see the coast!" Kiba proclaimed. Little did he know that his friends heard none of it due to having accidentally knocked themselves back into unconsciousness. Kiba looked at them oddly before deciding they just didn't care as much as he did and left.

* * *

Kiba stretched and hopped overboard directly onto the dock below, surprising a few of the dock workers in the process, but that mattered very little to him at the moment. He was free! Back to the open world and solid Earth!

One by one the remaining passengers made their way off the boat. Kiba nodded at a few people that he recognized as they passed by. Kuruiyetsu was the only one that waved at Kiba politely. Most of the passengers ignored him. The ones that didn't rushed past him as fast as they could, and one guy actually fainted at the sight of him. Kiba scratched his head at that one. He thought he'd been pretty low key while on the boat compared to Tayuya. Maybe they were just scared of their group in general. Or the Stroder incident...whatever.

Ino, with Akamaru in tow, walked down the platform next. Neither were looking a sight worth seeing. Ino had her head cast down so that no one might look at her. Kiba instantly sympathized as the thought of being responsible for another's death was not an easy weight to carry. But for Ino, it must have been even worse as the person she had sentenced was someone really close to her.

She made her way over to Kiba and gently handed Akamaru over to him. The poor dog had a rough time dealing with his seasickness during the trip, but he made it. Kiba patted his head consolingly in hopes of soothing his plight. He looked up at Ino who sniffled and attempted to wipe at her eyes a little bit. Kiba had to hand it to her that she was trying to be strong.

"Where are Naruto and Tayuya?" she sniffled again despite her attempt to keep it in check.

"Haven't seen them since this morning."

Ino hummed her acknowledgment before speaking again. "Sorry about locking you out last night...I wasn't really thinking about you."

Kiba waved it off. All things considered he was willing to let it slide. "I talked to Naruto. He wants us to spread out and start looking for places we can use as a hideout inside the city."

Ino held up a hand to stop Kiba as she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was too tired to speak her mind, but Kiba caught on to her protest for the idea by her body language.

"The idea sounds worse than it actually is. It'll be easier to get a hold of food and resources here than somewhere out in the wild. Still though, we'll have to be more careful from here on."

Ino looked at him questioningly and Kiba, though he tried his best not to, couldn't help but cave under the pressure. "Okay! So Tayuya told me that...oh just leave me alone..."

Ino shook her head at his antics, and Kiba thought he saw a smile. If only for a second. Maybe she'd be fine after all...

* * *

"What the hell happened to you two?"

The two in question sported matching bruises on their foreheads. Naruto glared from behind as Tayuya scowled menacingly at Kiba who was completely clueless as to what he had done.

"I will kill you while you sleep." Tayuya threatened in a very calm manner that sent a chill down Kiba's spine.

"No killing allowed, Tayuya." Naruto said while still glaring. "Just make him suffer."

Ino sighed at the antics of her three comrades before placing each of her hands over Naruto and Tayuya's foreheads and easily healing their bruises. Naruto tried to catch her eye, but she was blatantly attempting to ignore him. Naruto felt guilty for a split second before realizing that he hadn't done anything wrong to her. Whatever. If she needed someone to blame, he could deal with it. For now.

"Alright, maggots! Listen up!" Tayuya ordered calling everyone to attention. "The plan is to split up and find a place to stay. Any questions?"

Naruto tentatively raised his hand and Kiba smacked him on the back of the head for it.

"Dumbass! Don't raise your hand! She can't see. Remember?"

"I was being polite! You're supposed to raise your hand and wait to be called on!" Naruto exclaimed.

Ino blinked at Naruto's exclamation. "I can't believe _you_ just said that..."

"You don't raise your hand and expect a blind person to be able to call on you! It doesn't work that way!" Kiba reiterated.

Tayuya walked up to Kiba causing them all to pause from the argument. Tayuya scowled for half a second before she kicked Kiba off the dock and into the water.

"What was your question, Uzumaki?" Tayuya asked, turning towards him.

Naruto was momentarily sidetracked by Tayuya's actions before he finally remembered his question. "Oh yeah! Right. Well you're blind so how are you going to be able to find a hideout?"

Ino slapped a hand to her face just as Naruto joined Kiba in being kicked off the dock to the waters below.

Tayuya shook her head disapprovingly before turning her attention to Ino. "Where the fuck are we anyway?"

"We're at a portside city called Avel. It's not too far away from Iwagakure, but it's probably far away enough that they can't afford to send out a regular patrol of ninjas." Ino stated knowledgeably. "So other than your normal city guard, this place shouldn't be too much of a threat for us."

Tayuya sweatdropped, "God Yamanaka. Get away from the fucking books. It's freaking me out."

Naruto chose that moment to hop back onto the docks. "Wow Ino, you scared Tayuya. That doesn't happen very of—"

He never had a chance to finish his sentence as Tayuya pushed him back into the water.

"As I was saying. We need to split up." Tayuya stated, getting back to the task at hand. "I'll take the North side. Yamanaka, take the South. Uzumaki, East. Inuzuka, West. We'll meet back here at nightfall."

With the plan set, Tayuya decided to forgo answering anymore stupid questions. The team split up in their assigned directions. Naruto and Kiba grumbling as they did so.

* * *

Ino walked down the road in a trance. The streets were littered with people, and yet, even amongst this crowd, she felt only a loneliness. She was trying so hard to be strong for the sake of her friends...but she wasn't like them. She could never be like them. She couldn't bottle up her every feeling and cast it adrift to the forgotten seas of her mind.

But even in knowing that, she was still willing to try. If only for a little while...

'Stop it, Ino. You can get through this. Deep breaths," she thought to herself as she kept herself from having another breakdown. She had more important things to be focusing on right now.

They needed a place to live. They needed a source of income to pay the rent. They needed food and furniture. Ino knew that none of these thoughts had even begun to form inside Naruto, Kiba, or Tayuya's minds yet. This is why she needed to have everything sorted out so that when it came up later she could already tell them what needed to be done.

Unfortunately, things weren't going exactly according to plan. They never do...

No matter where she went looking, the price range for apartments were extremely expensive. Even if all four of them got jobs, it would only barely make rent for the cheapest apartment. That's not including other expenditures that were necessary for living. It was absolutely ridiculous and she was going to chew someone out over it.

"Outrageous, isn't it?"

Ino turned to meet the eyes of a man that had seen a lot better days. His hair was straggly and hung down over his eyes. He looked as though he hadn't had a clean shave in a good long while. And he reeked from his head to his toes, which made Ino wonder how she hadn't noticed him approaching from a mile away. Albeit, in her defense she was a little distraught by everything else at the moment to pay much attention. Which wasn't a good thing.

"Why is everything so overpriced?" Ino asked irritably, casting her thoughts aside. "How can anyone begin to think about living here with prices like these?"

This seemed to get a rise out of the homeless man. He spat at the ground at his feet to signify his distaste. " Amatsu Otogawa. A polluted soul to his very core. Enraptured by greed, he has taken everything from the citizens of Avel! Our homes are his property. His corruption is absolute."

Ino listened as the man continued his murmurings. Most of what he was talking about was way over her head, but what she could get out of it was that some sort of businessman was charging double or triple the normal rent, and people were suffering in the city because of it.

"Why hasn't the Tsuchikage done anything about this?" she asked tentatively.

The man looked at her for a second before sighing. "You know not much of Iwa I take it?" Ino nodded slowly. "The country lacks funds. Recession is ongoing since the last shinobi war. Otogawa is wealthy. A generous donation here or there is more than enough to appease those with status. Thus, they leave him alone. That is my theory anyway."

The man paused, and Ino felt like she needed to say something, but she didn't know what. But before she could say anything, the man continued.

"Those in poverty cannot flee to greener pastures. Otogawa controls the docks and ticket prices have become too expensive. He also owns the markets and prices are just as expensive there. No one can buy the necessary supplies to make the trip over the mountains to Iwa. Those in poverty, such as I, are stagnant. And we will rot unless something happens."

Ino didn't know what to do to console the man. It was like he was speaking at her, but not to her. And even though he spoke of all the horrible things that Otogawa had done, he remained calm. Like nothing even effected him anymore...like he was wasting away...

An anger she'd never felt before coursed through her very being. She wanted to put a stop to Amatsu Otogawa, and change this city for the better.

* * *

Night had set in by the time Ino rushed back to the meeting place. Feeling sorry for the homeless man, she decided the least she could do was buy him a warm meal. Which, in turn, caused her to run late.

Ino found Kiba and Tayuya standing at the end of the dock waiting in silence. Naruto was nowhere to be seen. Neither of them gave notice to Ino until she stood before them. Kiba turned in acknowledgment.

"Find anything?" He asked.

Ino shook her head. "No. Everything was way too expensive."

"Tch." Tayuya tutted. "That means it's all up to Uzumaki."

Kiba kicked a rock across the dock as Ino sighed. They might as well start hiking for the woods to set up camp.

An hour passed and Naruto had still yet to arrive. The three stood there in comfortable silence, listening to the waves as they crashed against the dock. Kiba nurtured the sickly Akamaru in his arms as Tayuya leaned against a wooden post on the dock, tapping her foot impatiently. Ino sighed to herself as Kiba finally decided to give voice to the thought that was in each of their minds already.

"Something's wrong with this city."

Tayuya nodded while wrinkling her nose ever so slightly in distaste.

Ino's eyes darkened as she recounted what the man had told her earlier. "I think I know why..."

Ino took the next thirty minutes explaining the situation the homeless man relayed to her about the city's current state and the man behind it all. Kiba listened intently, glaring harder the further Ino went into detail. Tayuya remained completely indifferent to the story. It was almost as though she were treating the situation like a jigsaw puzzle.

As Ino wrapped up her story, Kiba felt the need to rant. "What kind of guy has the stomach to do that to another human being? Let alone an entire city! It's all kinds of wrong..."

Tayuya shrugged her shoulders in a disagreeable fashion. "If all else, it explains something I overheard earlier..."

Kiba and Ino turned their attention toward Tayuya as she began speaking.

"I didn't hear much as I didn't stick around long. Figured it wasn't worth my time. A lot of the locals at the tavern are pissed off at someone. They're wanting some bigshot's head here in town. Judging from your story, I'd say it's probably this Otogawa guy.

"He does seem to be the talk of the town." Ino said tiredly.

"That's not all though." Tayuya continued. "With so many people wanting this guy dead, it's a wonder that this man is still alive. From what I've gathered, he's no ninja. Why not ransack his place and simply cut his throat? It's not like the bastard would be able to do anything about it. They're scared of something. The question is what."

Kiba took a deep breath, cooling down from his earlier tirade, "They are a little on edge, I gathered that much. But there's one big thing that's been bugging me the whole time we've been here..."

Ino looked at him questioningly. Tayuya also regarded him for a moment before she started to shake her head knowingly.

"I can't believe I didn't notice it sooner."

Ino looked between the two not really appreciating feeling out of the loop.

"I'm not getting the picture..." she said, waiting for someone to bring her up to speed.

"We've been standing here for nearly two hours now," Kiba explained. "Not once have we seen a patrol come by to survey the area. It's weird."

Ino grimaced at the news as Tayuya remained calmly indifferent. The town had too many questions and very few answers. As much as Ino wanted to help the people here, she also knew that none of them were in any place to go and get themselves involved in a load of drama. They were trying to lay low. Getting involved in this would certainly set off some bells that needn't be rung.

The three suddenly turned their attention to the sky to find Naruto grinning like a cheshire cat as he landed atop the pole that Tayuya was leaning against.

"Yo!" Naruto waved to each of them like the goof that he was and getting nothing but a deadpan expression from each of them in return. "Kakashi-sensei always used to do that to me. I felt like trying it out."

"Find anything?" Tayuya asked, effectively bringing the conversation back to the meeting.

Naruto nodded emphatically as he hopped off the pole and onto the dock. "I got us a house, a job, and all the ramen I could ever ask for! Did I strike gold or what?"

The three stood there for a second just staring at the blonde. Kiba seemed to snap back to his senses first.

"So any luck?"

Naruto pouted, "Oh come on you guys! I'm serious! I was on my way to meet you guys when I saw this old guy sitting on a bench in the park. We talked for a bit and I told him how I was a traveling swordsman looking for a place for me and my friends to live."

The three just continued to stare at him blankly. Seriously...Naruto found them a house?

"And anyway, long story short, the man was looking to hire some bodyguards that could live at his estate with him. It sounded like a sweet gig so I took him up on that offer. And he seemed like a pretty nice guy."

It was seriously too good to be true, But Ino didn't care. She yipped for joy and glomped Naruto as Kiba stood over them and ruffled his hair happily at his accomplishment. Tayuya, however, was thinking to herself again and not really contributing to the celebrations. It was just too big a coincidence...

"Well Tayuya, am I great or what?" Naruto asked, fishing for a compliment.

"What was the old man's name?" Tayuya asked.

Naruto blinked at the sudden change of subject. "I think his name was Amatsu Otogawa or something like that."

Of course.

Ino and Kiba stopped in their celebrations as Naruto looked between the three wondering what he'd said. Tayuya once again retreated into her thoughts as she wondered...

Would this really be worth the trouble it would surely bring?

**Author's Note: I'm going to go ahead and admit that this chapter has me a little nervous. And with very good reason. A series like this, you can't help but throw a few OCs in here and there, and for the most part people get turned off by there inclusion. So for a little bit now, the plot is really going to be the fueling factor for this fic as they inevitably get involved in all this mumbo jumbo. I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping I can pull this off, as I've had this whole arc planned out from chapter five or so.**

**Well, I hope you liked it. Start of a new arc. Should be a little fun, right? At the very least you can say you got a new chapter. Hurray for that!**

**We'll see what happens with Chapter 13. It'll happen. When is the big question. Could be a week or 89 years from now. Alright I'm jesting it won't be that long. At the very least 88 years...I'm gonna stop joking before it gets me into trouble.**

**I'll see you when I see you. Remember to review. It really does help guys.  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: I'm back again. And you guys thought you'd finally got rid of me. Ha! Too bad. I'm going to start this off by saying that this chapter was probably more complex than it should have been for my tiny little mind. If something strikes you as odd in this chapter then it probably is. My advice is to not bother yourself over the details too much, but rather just get a general idea of Otogawa's situation, as in the long run...his problems aren't really that important. This chapter was necessary though. It's just kind of a crazy technical chapter in general.**

**I'm rambling. Sorry about that. It happens on occasion. You can have your fic now.**

They walked the city streets at night in anxious silence. Ino bit her lip, sniffling to herself as they carried forward.

She couldn't understand it. She had _told_ Naruto all about Otogawa. She _told _him that it wouldn't be smart to get involved with him. Did he seriously not understand that this guy was scum? She was willing to admit that they themselves had done a terrible thing, but Ino still felt that she was a good person. Working for Otogawa? It just seemed all kinds of wrong.

And yet here they were. Marching forward to accept his hospitality like it was no big deal. It was a big deal! This man was the reason behind the suffering of so many of Avel's citizens. How could any of them stand this idea?

Ino looked at all of her companions. Kiba looked like he was more worried about Akamaru than he was about where they were going. Tayuya, from what she could tell, looked rather passive about the whole situation. And Naruto...he just kept walking forward with that smile plastered on his face. None of them seemed to care that this decision was causing her turmoil.

"Why are we doing this?" Ino asked, rather loudly, causing the three to look at her questioningly.

Tayuya shrugged her shoulders, "It's as good a place as any. Better even."

Naruto nodded his head in agreement and smiled slightly, and for some reason this infuriated Ino even more.

"Didn't I just get through telling you this guy was bad news?" Ino said, barely restraining her temper. "Everyone in this city is _suffering_ because of what this man has put them through. How can you just shrug that off like it's no big deal?"

She looked at Naruto as she said that, but Kiba spoke up causing her to look at him.

"You're right." Kiba said, surprising her, "He might be the biggest scumbag this side of the planet. But this isn't about that. It's about what we need. He needs bodyguards. I need a place for Akamaru to recuperate. And we need a place to stay. He's getting what he wants. We're getting what we need. For that reason alone, I'll put up with him. Even if it means sacrificing some of my dignity."

She looked at Kiba differently as he pet Akamaru who whimpered slightly in response. Ino knew that Kiba was really close to Akamaru, and it was a little reassuring that she wasn't the only one feeling wrong about siding with Otogawa. Kiba just had a personal reason that was forcing him to choose Otogawa.

Tayuya snorted. "God. Only you could come up with a bullshit reason like that."

Kiba glared at Tayuya and mumbled a few things under his breath. Tayuya took no notice as she turned to Ino and continued.

"I have the same motivations, but I'm not doing it because of my poor little puppy," she drawled in a babyish tone causing Kiba to give her the not-so-subtle finger, "I'm doing it because it's the fucking smart thing to do. All this moral bullshit is a hassle. If this Otogawa guy is an asshole, then I'll just be a bitch to him. If he starts pissing me off, then I'll fucking kill him myself. I mean, seriously...who gives a shit? Either way we still get the house."

Ino and Kiba looked at her like she was crazy. Naruto was also scratching his head slightly. None of them could really say that they were inclined to think like Tayuya. It was a very dark way of thinking...

But it was a way of thinking that they may very well need to resort to one of these days...

"Well...I really don't think it'll come to that." Naruto chimed in. "I told you guys he seemed pretty nice to me. And I think I'm a pretty good judge of character. You're just gonna have to trust me on this."

It was like somebody pulled the hair trigger in Ino's mind.

"That's it? That's all you have to say?" she snapped, causing the three to recoil at the sudden outburst. "You expect me to just _trust_ you?"

"Ino—"

"No!" She interjected. "Do you remember what happened the last time I decided to _trust_ you? You can't just—"

"That's enough!"

The fury in Naruto's voice caused her to bite back her words as she looked into his eyes. They were cold and red. In strong contrast to his soft blue eyes that she was used to seeing. Ino had never seen Naruto this way before. Not up close anyway...The very aura that permeated the air around him frightened her to her very core.

And then...it was gone. Just as quickly as it came. Ino almost thought she had imagined it as Naruto glared at her with his normal blue eyes.

"If you want to blame me for Shikaku's death, that's fine. I can accept that. But I'm not going to let you guilt trip me over it. That's your burden to bare. Not mine."

Ino couldn't help it. She broke down under his glare and began sobbing as the words pierced her like a dagger. Naruto sighed as he continued to look at her.

"I'm not saying you have to like the guy, but you don't even know him yet. You've just heard what other people have said about him." Naruto looked at her sympathetically, "The very least you could do is listen to him and form your own opinion about him."

Ino lowered her head. For some reason, she felt stupid for having blown up at Naruto in the first place. She just felt so out of place. So guilty. Vile. She wished her actions hadn't caused Shikaku's death, and she was willing to do anything to bring him back...

But there was no bringing him back...

They all waited as Ino attempted to recollect herself. When she was ready they all continued on their way as if nothing had happened. Naruto walked ahead of the group as Ino trailed behind at a sluggish pace. Everyone attempted to lose themselves to their individual thoughts so they could escape the embarrassing awkwardness of that conversation's conclusion.

* * *

Naruto walked at a fast pace up the side of the bluff in order to stay ahead of the others. Just far enough ahead that he would be left alone. He was aggravated with himself. He lost control. It wasn't for very long, but it bothered him all the same. He still wasn't strong enough to stand on his own.

He sighed. He was being too hard on himself. The only training he had gotten in since leaving Konoha was the week spent at the cabin with Tayuya and the time spent on the boat with Kuruiyetsu-sensei. That would soon be over though. He'd have opportunities to train while protecting Otogawa.

Thinking about Otogawa, inevitably brought him back to his argument with Ino. As much as he was trying not to let it, he did feel guilty over the Shikaku incident, and he was just getting tired of being reminded of it at every given turn. It happened and there was nothing they could do about it except move on.

Naruto sweatdropped to himself at the insensitivity of that thought. Tayuya was getting to be a bad influence on him.

With a few more trendy steps, Naruto found himself at the top of the bluff staring at Otogawa's mansion looming over him. The idea that the old man was willing to offer his group room and board excited him. Finally, they were gonna be staying somewhere fancy for a little while. Kiba strolled up behind him barely containing his grin as he laid eyes on the mansion up close for the first time.

Kiba whistled to himself at the sight as Tayuya waltzed up on Naruto's other side. Naruto looked back long enough to see that Ino wasn't too far behind. He went up to the door of the mansion and knocked loud enough to wake the dead.

Just as Ino caught up to them, the door opened. The man that came to greet them at this late hour looked to be in his early forties. His hair was mostly gray with flecks of black decorating it in different places He had dull, droopy brown eyes and a thin frame, but he possessed a regal manner suitable of his wealth. All in all, he looked as any man would when his age was starting to get the better of him. But what really surprised Ino, in particular, was the gentle smile he offered as he greeted them. This was Amatsu Otogawa?

"Ah, Uzumaki.-san" He greeted politely, "I feared you may have gotten lost. Does this mean you have agreed to my terms?"

Naruto wiped the tip of his nose in embarrassment at his senior's politeness. "I told you to just call me Naruto."

Otogawa bowed, "My apologies."

Naruto waved it off getting even more embarrassed with each new gesture the man offered, "I-It's no big deal, but you gotta stop doing that. It's freaking me out."

"What are the terms?" Tayuya asked, effectively cutting short the small reunion. "Uzumaki hasn't said much, so I want to make sure you're not screwing us over."

Otogawa looked at her for a second, then he started to chuckle. "My. You're an eloquent one aren't you?" he teased.

"Got a fucking problem with it?" Tayuya threatened. It was becoming clear really fast that she wouldn't be getting along with the guy.

"None whatsoever," Otogawa smiled. "But where are my manners? Please, do come in. Make yourselves at home."

The quartet walked in and followed Otogawa as he made his way up two flights of stairs, down a hall, and opened a door on their left, allowing everyone into his study. Otogawa offered each of them a drink as they sat down, which each of them declined in good nature. Otogawa then moved over to his desk and tidied up a few important looking documents that he seemed to be working on, and then sat down in his chair. He crossed his legs and cupped his hands as he looked at each of them.

"You will find that this mansion, for all its size, is...short-handed. Not many people of a reputable nature can say they feel inclined to work for me at the moment. And I can say with great certainty that that is probably because no one looks at me...in a favorable manner at present."

Tayuya snorted involuntarily at the business-driven talk.

"You seem to disapprove of my mannerisms of speech." Otogawa sighed, smiling slightly. "I find myself troubled by it sometimes as well, but it is something that I've grown into when dealing with transactions. In my line of business, one word wrongly used can make a decade of hard work crumble beneath my feet." He stopped to ponder for a second. "That was maybe a tad too dramatic. But I find it to be true nevertheless."

"Just cut the bullshit and get on with it." Tayuya said bluntly, causing both Naruto and Kiba to glare at her for her lack of respect. She was going to get them kicked out before they could get moved in!

Luckily for them, Otogawa seemed to find it all amusing, "I do say, you keep colorful company, Uzumaki.-san" He sighed and looked back at her. "Very well. Strictly business then."

Otogawa stood up and walked over to the curtain and drew it back. From the window, one could see the entire city of Avel as it expanded out to the distant ocean on this starry night. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

"Our beloved Earth Country has seen nothing but recession for quite some time now." Otogawa stated as he glanced down at the city. His face marred with age as he spoke. "For all its splendor, you'd think this country would be of a more lackadaisical nature. In all honesty, we're a rather confrontational force. We've been in and out of skirmishes with different countries since the ending of the last great shinobi war. And only recently has our country reached a state of peace."

Otogawa walked back over to his desk and sat down in front of it staring at each of them.

"All that war...and no means to fund it. It's no wonder that the cost of living would skyrocket. But the general public has trouble understanding that. They have their minds set on the present as I try and usher stability for the future...and it's created a bit of a mess for me personally..."

Kiba looked around the room to see if anyone else was following. He had no freaking clue what Otogawa was talking about. Confused as hell, he just kept listening and prayed something would eventually click.

"I began procuring money in rather questionable manners in hopes of easing this country's debt. I started exporting more of our goods and importing less little by little. A few people began losing their jobs as the work force needed for the company's went down. I started raising rent for housing. Denying requests that needed approval. Simple things to keep money coming in and none going out. I then donated all that extra money I earned toward helping our government."

"But at what cost? What you've done here...it's despicable. Aren't you the least bit sorry for what you've caused these people to go through?" Ino stated with a touch of restrained anger.

Otogawa turned away from the window for the first time since his history lesson began and made eye contact with the girl. He gave her a petty look, and Ino realized something. He didn't regret his actions in the slightest!

"I tire of such allegations besmirching my name." Otogawa frowned. "I am nothing more than a businessman. The country needs money. I see a means as to make it. In this case, I'm more than happy to play the villain for the city if it saves the country as a whole. There's no such thing as good and evil in my book. It's strictly business. Once the country is out of debt, I will simply set things straight once more. The people who are complaining about me right now will be thanking me later. People are rather fickle like that. Though, I suppose a child like you would find that hard to believe."

"You're sidetracking." Tayuya stated testily. "This isn't a fucking mission briefing. It's a merc job. Get to the point so that you can shut the fuck up."

"My humblest apologies," Otogawa bowed slightly before sighing. "I just don't do well with talk on this subject of late. Responses such as hers are ones that constantly pass through my ears. You get to the point where you're eventually sick and tired of hearing the same trite over and over again."

"Trust me when I say I know the feeling." Tayuya deadpanned looking directly toward Otogawa. "You're _still_ sidetracking. Get to the fucking point before I kill you myself!"

Naruto sighed to himself at how horrible all of this was going and felt the need to hit his head against something as Kiba suddenly decided to get up and walk out of the room. This act also seemed to perplex Otogawa. From the look on his face, he had probably never been so disregarded in all his life.

"Tayuya, go get some fresh air. I'll have Ino stay to make sure he's not tricking us somehow." Naruto ordered.

Tayuya looked about ready to short-circuit as she stood up. She fumed at Otogawa for a second before she spat at his shoes and slammed the door on her way out.

Otogawa stood dumbfounded. His mouth hanging open from the disrespect.

"Sorry about that." Naruto chuckled while scratching the back of his head. "Tayuya gets angry easily and Kiba probably didn't have a clue what you were talking about. All this mumbo jumbo just isn't easy for them to deal with."

Otogawa blinked a few times before finally regarding Naruto. "I see...I must say Uzumaki-san your team is...I can't even find the words to express it justly. I'm quite confounded at the moment."

"Well you can express your wordplay to me without hindrance." Naruto stated. "I once had the dream of being the leader of my village, so I kinda like this type of stuff. Though I gotta admit, I do prefer fighting more."

"As reassuring as that is, I will make this even shorter as I've already apparently taken up enough of your time as it is." Otogawa replied while pointing at the door in an amused fashion.

"With time, people inevitably turned against me here in the city. Riots began breaking out and due to my own earlier exploits, the city guard didn't have enough manpower to keep the peace. Luckily, at the time, a man named Kakuzu was passing through town that day. He represented an organization that, for a non-negotiable fee, would put a stop to all the rioting. I was at quite the disadvantage at the time so you can see why I would hastily agree to his terms. He was a rather shrewd businessman...Unfortunately for me..."

"So what happened." Naruto asked as questions started to enter his mind.

"The rioting did indeed stop. Kakuzu did his job and I paid him well for it. You may have noticed it earlier, but not a single person was out tonight. Kakuzu invoked a curfew to handle the rioting, and soon enough people feared going out at night. I'm not sure as to what lengths his punishments went, but I do know that they were rather severe in nature...Eventually things settled down once again, but I wasn't quite convinced it wouldn't start up again once he left...so I kept Kakuzu around for a while longer to make the people believe he wouldn't be leaving...but one day recently, I found I no longer had the funds to pay for his services..."

"...And so...?" Ino chimed in to Naruto's surprise. Despite her earlier protests against him, she seemed to have gotten caught up in Otogawa's story.

"He left." Otogawa stated, causing Naruto to fall back in his seat.

"Just like that?" Naruto bellowed.

Otogawa shook his head. "If only. I'm afraid that not meeting his demands has landed me in quite a mess with his organization. It's rather odd to be told of your own upcoming demise in such a nonchalant manor. And then, on the other end of it is the citizens of Avel...They don't yet know that Kakuzu is gone, but you can be sure that when they find out...things will turn unpleasant..."

"You really are in a mess huh?" Naruto responded.

"Let's just say...that my actions have made me a lot of enemies." Otogawa grimaced.

"Does this organization that's chasing you have a name?" Ino asked. "Is there any way we would be able to distinguish them in a crowd?"

"I don't know much about them myself to be honest," Otogawa sighed, showing his age, "They call themselves the Akatsuki Organization."

Naruto and Ino instantly paled. The organization that Itachi Uchiha belonged to...was after Otogawa...

"Do you know of them?" Otogawa asked curiously.

"We've had a few run-ins here and there..." Naruto said in a darker tone.

Crawl out of one hole and fall straight into another. The analogy seemed to fit Naruto's predicament. He had just gotten out of reach of Konoha's ninjas only to find a job guarding someone that the Akatsuki had a vendetta against. How in the hell did he land in these situations?

The doorbell rang.

"Ah. My final guest for the night has arrived. If you will excuse me."

Otogawa walked out of the room. Naruto and Ino both looked at each other with paranoia. Neither liking this sudden turn of events. They got up and followed Otogawa as he made his way downstairs to the door.

Otogawa turned toward Naruto and Ino as he allowed the man beside him inside. "I forgot to mention that I have also hired an entertainer to help ease my stress in the coming days."

Before he could tell him to stop, Otogawa opened the door and greeted the entertainer who bowed politely and thanked him for his hospitality. Naruto and Ino both let out a sigh of relief they didn't know they had been holding. Naruto half-expected for Akatsuki to be behind the door when it opened.

The entertainer looked to Naruto and started waving emphatically at him as Otogawa invited him inside.

"Hiya! I'm Tobi! Looks like we're all gonna be house buddies!" The entertainer greeted them energetically.

They had no idea of the threat that stood before them...

**Author's Note: At the very least, I hope I answered all the unexplained questions revolving around Otogawa. I won't promise that I didn't leave something out here and there, but that's probably because I'm saving it for the next few chapters. Like I said earlier, don't get too bogged down and uppity over the details. I tried to explain it all to the best of my abilities. But it's a rather wordy and technical chapter in general, and to be honest is a little more out of my element as a writer. It was fun writing it though. So that counts for something.**

**Anyway, that's chapter 13 for you. What did you think? Was Otogawa what you expected him to be. Is he good? Is he bad? Is he right? Is he wrong? Is he a dead man walking on the green mile? I guess you'll have to be waiting for the next chapter to find out. Later readers. I appreciate you all. Don't forget to leave a review on your way out. XP  
**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:**** Yes. I know. I know. stilldeluded is a very bad person making you wait so long since the last update. stilldeluded is probably an even worse person because for the most part this chapter has been pretty much completed for two months now but he just now finally got around to going back and getting everything looking dainty. It's part of that whole going back and making sure I didn't screw up too bad process. I'm sorry the chapter is so late that it's criminal. But it looks pretty. And it shows I didn't die in a ditch somewhere when I update. That's nice. Death don't sound fun. Goodness I'm quirky right now. XP. Here's your fic.**

The days trickled by at a slow pace following the night they arrived at Otogawa's mansion. After a lengthy discussion with Kiba and Tayuya, they decided that if Akatsuki were to attack they would have to give up on Otogawa and flee in separate directions. It would be a lost cause to go up against Akatsuki at the moment. But the rioters were people they could protect Otogawa from.

Naruto was constantly on edge now. It wasn't like when they were being chased by Konoha ninjas. Deep down inside, he still considered them friends...but Akatsuki...they were different. They would capture him and take the fox. Most likely killing him in the process.

He didn't know what else to do with himself other than train. Whenever he had the spare time he'd work on his chakra control. He was beginning to see quite a bit of improvement. He didn't have to pump near as much chakra into his hand to form a rasengan as before. He also switched between sword stances that Kuriyetsu-sensei taught him more fluently.

But even then it still wasn't enough.

He didn't know what it was he was looking for, but Naruto was really beginning to feel the difference between his meager attempts at self-teaching and being taught by Ero-sannin, Iruka-sensei, and Kakashi-sensei. Without someone to guide him, it felt like he just kept running into a brick wall.

Naruto tutted. He didn't feel like thinking about it anymore. He'd just keep doing this basic stuff until he figured out where he was wanting to go with it all. He had made progress. It wasn't much, but it was just enough to keep him going. He just needed to stay positive.

* * *

"Look at me! One hand!"

Kiba quirked an eyebrow at Tobi as he flipped into a handstand and put one of his hands behind his back. He then began hopping around while doing some acrobatics that were impressive even by shinobi standards.

Kiba stood just behind Otogawa out of sight. He wanted to make it seem like he was defenseless to provoke any would-be attackers to show their position, but luckily in the last week there had been no signs of any threat. Naruto, Ino, and Tayuya were all out training at the moment. In all honesty, Kiba thought it was a little impractical. If Otogawa were to be attacked right now, there was no way that Kiba alone could keep him protected. But Kiba also knew that with the threat of Akatsuki coming that training was a critical necessity.

He watched Otogawa somberly as Tobi's performance came to an end. As much as Kiba hated to admit it, there wasn't much chance of Otogawa coming out of this alive. Kiba just decided he'd do all that he could, and if that wasn't enough then he'd just try harder the next time.

Without even realizing it, Tobi plopped down right in front of him and crossed his legs. Kiba regarded Tobi as well as he could a man that wore a mask. Tobi looked up at him inquisitively.

"You've got some serious skills." Kiba acknowledged noncommittally. He wasn't too sure how to converse with the jester.

"Really?" Tobi brought a thumb up to his chin in thought, "I guess I never really thought it was anything special."

"But you make money off of it, right?" Kiba inquired. "Surely, that's got to count for something."

Tobi simply shrugged. "Not really. People are just really easy to amuse. I do a few tricks and suddenly people started paying me for it. I guess I'm just immune to the praise by now."

"Indeed. It's the same in business as well." Otogawa stated, butting into the two's conversation. "You get all sorts of attention when you're well known. There are some people who take in all the glory and let their ego get the better of them. There are others who are so grateful that they can't help but feel blessed by all the attention. But more often than not, those acclaimed people are like Tobi-san in that they become immune to the attention altogether."

Kiba had never really thought about it before. But now that he thought back on it, many of the jounin in the Leaf Village were well known throughout the city. Kurenai-sensei was always polite with the common folk, but she always seemed kind of indifferent to them whenever they praised her for her skills.

He looked to Tobi who was rocking himself back and forth in a state of boredom. Kiba then watched perplexedly as Tobi did something that Kiba thought impossible. He flipped and landed on his pinky finger. Kiba's jaw dropped as Tobi balanced himself on his pinky finger for well over a minute or two.

"How the hell are you even doing that?" Kiba asked. "Even by shinobi standards...that's just insane."

Tobi didn't acknowledge Kiba. He just stood completely still. Otogawa also was watching the scene with amused curiosity. Upon further inspection, Kiba discovered that Tobi was snoring! He had fallen asleep while balancing solely on his pinky finger!

"Hey!" Kiba exclaimed, shaking Tobi awake in a comedic fashion. "How are you doing that?"

"Huh?" Tobi barely registered as his head was shook violently back and forth. "Doing what?"

"Those tricks you keep showing off." Kiba stated, crossing his arms testily. "I've never seen anything like it. ...Teach me."

"No." Tobi yawned.

Such an easy refusal caught Kiba off guard. "Why not?" He asked irritably.

"Because...Tobi is a good boy!" Tobi said in an annoying sing-song voice. "Why should Tobi teach the old dog new tricks?"

Kiba blinked at the ironic statement. He almost wondered if Tobi was familiar with the Inuzuka clan. But now wasn't really the time to question him about it.

"It would suit me and Akamaru's fighting style."

"I thought his name was Otogawa." Tobi said while pointing at Otogawa. Kiba slapped his forehead.

"Akamaru is my dog!" Kiba yelled.

"You're his dog?" Tobi exclaimed to Otogawa, shocked by this unforeseen plot twist.

Otogawa was reeling with laughter as Kiba's frustrations grew.

"Quit changing the subject on me!"

Tobi picked up a stick from a nearby tree, completely ignoring Kiba, and threw it across the yard.

"Fetch the stick, sir!" He ushered Otogawa along, pointing towards the stick in the distance. "Come on! You can do it, boy!"

Kiba just shook his head. Getting Tobi to cooperate would be like teaching a brick wall to sing. As irritable as he now was with Tobi, he couldn't wait for Ino to come and take over his post. If he was going to come anywhere close to Tobi's skill then he'd need to start practicing as soon as possible.

* * *

Ino looked to Tayuya feeling the horror of betrayal for the first time in her life. Tayuya only spoke two words.

"Get up."

Ino felt cold throughout her body. She was having to fight to keep her vision from fading. A hacking cough erupted from her body, and her blood splattered violently against the ground. A bizarre numbness was overtaking her, and Ino couldn't help but wonder if she was _dieing_...How did things turn out this way...?

Right...She had asked Tayuya to help her with her training. But Tayuya had refused...and then attacked her while her guard was down. Ino only had time to turn back and see the fist of Tayuya's doki connect with her body before she fell in a crumpled heap. She then was bashed over and over again until she lied in her current state.

"I said get up!" Tayuya yelled, kicking Ino in the head. Ino rolled over from the impact as a new bruise began forming across her cheek.

Ino lay broken. Unmoving. Tayuya tutted at the battered body.

"What kind of pathetic excuse for a ninja dies from such weak punches? I swear if you die this isn't my fault..." Tayuya told Ino as she checked her vitals for a pulse. She tapped Ino across the cheek a few times until the girl regained consciousness.

Ino's vision came back to her long enough to see Tayuya hovering over her. She made to speak, but no words came out. Feeling a slight speck of strength, Ino managed to push her hands over her failing kidney and began pumping healing chakra through her body.

"God your hopeless. Very first rule of being a ninja. Expect the unexpected." Tayuya told Ino who barely managed to hear her. "Work on your endurance. Hell. Work on everything. If a couple of weak punches like that can take you down, then you aren't worth shit out here."

Tayuya stood up and made her way back to the mansion as Ino lay healing herself. Ino didn't know why, but she felt ashamed of herself. Just what had she been doing all this time? She was always used to having others around to come and save her when things got too hard for her to handle.

She hadn't actually realized it up until now. But things really were going to keep going from bad to worse, and the others wouldn't always be around to protect her...she needed to stop worrying about looking pretty...and start fighting her own battles.

It was kind of pathetic that she had to be beaten senseless before she could learn that lesson.

She pushed herself up having finally recovered and couldn't help but notice how much chakra she had expended while trying to save her life. She was exhausted.

But she had found something that she had been lacking before. Resolve. And with it, she would become worthy to fight alongside Naruto, Kiba, and Tayuya.

* * *

Tayuya walked at a brisk pace toward Kiba who was in the middle of mimicking Tobi's movements and failing miserably. As she made her way up behind Kiba, Tobi did the splits for the coup de grace of his performance. Kiba, once again, tried to mimic Tobi but his legs were not used to moving that far away from one another. So much for being a ninja...

Tayuya leaped at the opportunity thrown before her. She jumped and landed on his back, which forcibly pushed Kiba the rest of the way down to the ground. Kiba screamed a high-pitched scream as Tayuya flipped off him to face him.

Beside Otogawa, Tobi was laughing his hardest and rolling around at the display. If Tayuya didn't know better, she'd say that Tobi had expected for that to happen, and planned it all out as she sneaked up behind Kiba.

"What did you do that for?" Kiba squeaked as he clutched himself in pain.

Tayuya shrugged. "I'm borrowing your mutt. See ya."

Tayuya blatantly ignored Kiba as he began protesting random nonsense about leaving Akamaru alone. She discovered the dog was sleeping in Kiba's room. After much searching on her part, the blind redhead found a walking cane and a pair of sunglasses. With all these things in hand, she made her way down to the city.

* * *

Although the city died by nightfall, Tayuya was reminded rather unpleasantly that Avel had a wide range of noises that had to be filtered out. The last time she was here, she kept bumping into people and signs and buildings galore. Luckily, she had the dog with her this time to help her find her way around.

Akamaru barked as Tayuya reached out to open a door that was in front of her. As she opened it, she was greeted by a refreshing breeze to cool herself from the heat. As she crossed the threshold, the smell of cigarettes and alcohol graced her nose. It was a bar. The same bar that she visited when she heard talk of the rebellion against Otogawa. Maybe if she hung around she'd gather some intelligence as to what had become of the rioters.

An hour passed within the bar with nothing of much note happening. Customers talked. Tayuya listened. But none of the hushed voices spoke of the riots. It was almost as if it had all fallen off the face of the Earth. But Tayuya knew better than that. The fact that it was being kept quiet meant that the citizens were now a lot more organized. Perhaps they had a leader.

"I recognize you."

The voice caught Tayuya off guard as she hadn't been expecting to engage in any sort of conversation. But more importantly...did this guy know who she was? Was she going to have to make a break for the door. She took note of the bar. The atmosphere was still lighthearted. This eased Tayuya's worries as she listened to the man speak up again.

"You are one of the spry one's friends. His roommate from the boat if I am not mistaken."

She had no clue who the man was, but if he knew Naruto and her it would be trouble. She was going to have to deal with him.

"You want to talk? Fine. Follow." Tayuya sighed as she felt around for Akamaru's leash to which the man handed it to her.

They walked out of the bar and into the hustle and bustle of the city. They stayed that way for quite some while with Tayuya leading him through several dicey locations (with help from Akamaru) to unnerve her opponent. Unfortunately, the man seemed rather at ease with her little mind game, which only helped to further Tayuya's irritable mood.

They finally stopped next to a playground in the park as children played innocently unaware of the battle that would soon be coming between Otogawa's guard and the city's rioters.

"The riots will begin in one month's time."

Tayuya paused as this sudden information was thrust upon her.

The man continued, "I thought that you all should know at the very least. You've taken up guard of Amatsu after all."

"...and why are you telling me this?" Tayuya asked.

"Because I want you all to leave." the man stated. "I trained the spry one for that short period we were on the boat. It was merely the basics of swordsmanship, but within that short period I grew fond of my little pupil. Maybe it's just me growing old and clinging to petty relationships. I don't know. But I do not wish to see him die for this lost cause. Especially when it can be so easily avoided."

"God you talk a lot." Tayuya snorted, catching the man completely off guard with her disrespectful attitude . "So you're the old man who was teaching Uzumaki then. So is it safe to say we're going to have to deal with you when these riots begin."

There was a pause as a faint breeze blew Tayuya's hair across her face. Finally the old man answered.

"Indeed you will. Many of the men who had been occupying the boat trip were men I had hired to come aid in ending Amatsu's selfish tyranny. This city is my home, and I will die before I see it suffer any longer."

Tayuya laughed once again taking control of the conversation.

"God you really lay it on thick don't you." She laughed while applauding him. "Let me tell you a little something about your beloved little pupil. He's stubborn about his decisions. He'll try to protect Otogawa no matter what you may say. Trust me. I'd know. This little riot? It's passed the point where words will be enough to end it. I'm guessing you'd know that better than anyone."

The man smirked at Tayuya's feisty spirit but sighed a moment later. "I have said what I needed to say. Please inform Uzumaki of where my allegiance lies at the very least."

Tayuya snorted a final time as Akamaru growled at the man. "I'll be more than happy to do that, and it's going to be downright fucking hilarious when he cuts your throat with those same damn sword tricks you taught him."

Tayuya turned her back on the man as he turned his back on her and they walked away in separate directions.

* * *

"I will _not_ leave this city no matter what may come." Otogawa announced as Tayuya finished up relaying what Kuruiyetsu had told her. "I will not cower and flee because of the words of a monk and the threats of his collected hoodlums."

"Suit yourself." Naruto sighed. "It'd honestly be a lot easier to protect you if you just went into hiding though to be honest."

"That probably would be the wise choice..." Otogawa sighed while really feeling his age. "But I'm passed the point of being reasonable. I will not hide from an enemy that thinks he can waltz in here and destroy everything that I've sacrificed for this country's gain. My pride will not allow it at this point! This is my city."

"Aw. No need to be so grumpy!" Tobi shouted while waving his arms in front of Otogawa. "Just turn that frown upside down!"

Ino frowned at Tobi's antics to cheer up Otogawa as she didn't really feel this was the time or the place for his irritating personality. "Well...I know what I need to be working on I suppose. Though I wish _someone_ would have simply _told_ me instead of nearly _killing _me over not knowing!"

"Talk's cheap." Tayuya shrugged uninterestedly. "I'm adapting to this blindness fairly well now so I can start working myself a bit more. One month should be no problem in getting me back up to par. If they wanted a chance they should have attacked us within an hour. These rioters are pretty much fucked giving me this much time to learn the lay of the land."

"Confident much?" Kiba yawned in a slightly higher pitch than was normal due to an earlier incident. "Tobi here won't teach me anything, but I've seen more than enough to teach myself his acrobatic style. One month is more than enough time to incorporate it and improve my techniques."

"So you're like a copycat?" Tobi jabbed at Kiba's pride without knowing. Kiba was not a cat of any kind!

"Well I'm glad you're all set." Naruto smiled. "To be honest though...I'm having trouble teaching myself. It's like I've hit a wall and I don't know what else I can do..."

"Get creative."

Naruto was surprised that the voice came from Tobi of all people.

"When I hit a wall and don't know what else to do, I just start doing whatever comes to mind. You're a ninja of some sort so there's no real limit to what you can create. Right?"

"Uh...I guess...Still don't really know what I'd do though." Naruto said.

"Maybe you should combine jutsus you already know together." Ino offered to the table.

"That's a great idea!" Naruto shouted, but then suddenly paused.

For some reason a disturbing image of the Harem Jutsu mixed with Kakashi's patented Thousand Years of Death Technique came to mind.

Naruto was beginning to feel that this was going to be a traumatizing month of training.

**Author's Note: What can I say about this chapter? I suppose I'm building up to something. That's fun. Tobi is being so Tobi this chapter. Writing him is so hilarious. For the record, we're not going to have a training chapter. Next chapter will take place one month later when stuff starts getting real. Or supposedly starts getting real. However that works. Don't you love it when an author eludes to something and yet also eludes to nothing at the same time. The point of this author's note is that I'm sleepy.**

**Please remember to do that one thing where you click that REVIEW button. Show me some awesome feedback. Or not so awesome feedback. Or some half awesome and half not so awesome feedback. Just feedback. Feedback in general fuels this fic. It makes me happy and chapters come out quicker. yes believe it or not they do come out quicker. Sometimes. It depends. There are some chapters that like to try and be jerks to me. I have to slap them around for a little long while before they finally see the light of day. I wrote a one-shot today out of boredom. It's not related to Naruto though. Why did I say that? I am scatterbrained at the moment obviously.**

**You don't want to read me writing nonsensical things all night so I'm going to shut it up now. XP. Chapter 15 will be out HOPEFULLY very soon. Depends on how big a headache it wants to be to me. Later readers! And thank you for being made of super special awesome!**


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